Blood Bond
by beautifulimmortal
Summary: Immortality is not going well for Aurora. Not only has the love of her life, Godric, left her, but she now has to find Eric, the sibling she never wanted to meet. Will new circumstances threaten their renewed companionship? Set before/during Season Four.
1. Chapter 1

She was searching for him. She needed to find him.

It had been hours and still no luck. She had gone through every one of _his _possessions, painstakingly going through them, one at a time, piece by piece. It had all been left to her, but she did not have the heart to look at any of it, even touch a single part of it. It felt wrong somehow. These were _his_ things. She shook her head, a single tear falling onto a piece of torn yellowed paper. _He _was gone. _He _was never coming back. But _he _had given her a job, a task ... a last request.

Casting her eyes back to what lay in front of her, she settled her mind into a state of total concentration, scanning everything in her perfect sight for anything that could help her find who she was looking for. Her eyes were on the look out for words that would bring her one step closer to fulfilling _his_ assignment. She had been there for hours, locked in the small study and undisturbed, left to her own devices and thoughts. The last thing she really needed was to be alone, but it was the only way she would get her job done.

Picking up a cut-out of an old newspaper article, she found herself drawn to the photograph amidst the jumble of words. It had been taken in the nineteen-twenties and this photograph seemed to contain every stereotype of that particular era – a flapper, a forbidden alcoholic drink, a speak easy ... and two men that she was immediately drawn to. One was tall and blond with handsome features and cold eyes that seemed to penetrate her, even from the faded photograph. The other was much younger, almost a boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Both of them were looking away from the photographer, intent on whatever it was that had captured their attention. She stroked the face of the younger one, caressing it softly with her fingertip. She remembered what it had been really like, to caress _his_ face, to feel the cold skin soften as _he_ smiled at her lovingly.

'_I love you.'_

Tears filled her eyes again as she remembered the last thing _he _had said to her before ...

She could not think of that now. Her heart was repairing, but slowly. Any pain would be catastrophic. And for a heart that could no longer beat ...

Suddenly, there was a flash of something familiar. She picked up a colourful magazine from a few years ago. The front cover was of a small establishment with its name written in blinding neon.

'Fangtasia,' she said, running it over her tongue.

Of course it was a cliché, but this was a time when everything was stereotyped. Why not make a business out of it?

However, it was not the name that had her so rapt and attentive. It was the man standing outside it, looking out of the photograph with cold eyes. With her free hand, she picked up the nineteen-twenties article and chuckled softly to herself. He had not changed at all, obviously; although, instead of a tuxedo, he was wearing a simple black leather jacket and trousers, his hair ruffled and messy. His eyes were piercing and his jaw was tight as though he was waiting for a moment in which his fangs would retract.

She had no need to read the article, something about vampire businesses and their fall in customers due to the actions of a madman last year. Shaking her head as she remembered said madman, she glanced at the words for a name, a sign to point her in the right direction. Within seconds, her powerful keen eyes found what she was looking for.

'_Eric Northman_,' she read in her eloquent and lilting voice. '_One thousand years old ... Louisiana._'

Smiling to herself, she abandoned both pieces of paper and left the house in seconds. Then, she set off in search of the elusive Mr Northman.

She was searching for him. She needed to find him.


	2. Chapter 2

As usual, Eric was sitting in his office, staring absent-mindedly at the wall with the intense concentration that could only be acquired after a good thousand years. The night at Fangtasia had been the same as the night before – dreary and uneventful as always. He let his mind wander carelessly and thought of Sookie, the blonde telepath who fascinated him so. She had vanished completely from his radar a few months ago after he had set Russell Edgington in solid concrete. Where had she gone? Who had taken her? For a while, he suspected her dithering, pathetic boyfriend, Bill Compton, who had betrayed her. Bill had searched for her but was soon close to giving up. Pathetic, Eric thought. He would still search ...

'Eric, you better snap out of this or I may have to slap that God-awful look off that face.'

Eric snapped his head up and his eyes widened at the sight of Pam, his beloved progeny, leaning down, her cold blue orbs staring at him sceptically. He grinned at her and she rolled those eyes dramatically.

'What is it?' she asked in a tone mixed with frustration and a hint of concern.

Eric shook his head. 'Nothing, Pam. I was just ... thinking.'

'Oh, God. That's never good.'

Laughing to himself, Eric was about to retort to his child's sarcastic comment when his sensitive ears picked up the sound of a door being opened. His eyebrows furrowed. It was almost four o'clock, close to dawn. The bar had been closed for just over half an hour. Who could possibly want to be here at this time?

'Probably more drunken assholes thinking they can get a last drink ... or bite,' Pam shrugged, knowing exactly what he was thinking. 'I'll deal with them, Eric.'

'Pamela ... '

'Fine, fine,' she huffed. 'I'll be _nice_.'

'That's better,' he said and stood to go with her. His curiosity had been aroused and he was anxious now.

He went with his progeny out of the office and into the main bar area where an unusual sight caught his eyes. A girl of no more than sixteen or seventeen stood there, as bold as brass, glancing around the establishment as though it was quaint. Her eyes were a vibrant shade of golden brown and her chocolate coloured hair lightly graced her shoulders in delicate curls. Her skin was pale and her cheeks slightly flushed; she was more like a china doll than an actual person. She wore a short red dress with black heels and a strange bracelet on her right wrist. As soon as both Eric and Pam entered the room, she turned her head to face them and smiled, showing glistening white teeth.

'Good evening,' she said politely, her voice like chiming bells.

'You're not supposed to be here, honey-bunch,' Pam said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. 'It's _way_ past your bedtime.'

'And nearly past yours,' the girl retorted.

Eric had to admire her nerve. Very few were brave – or stupid – enough to cross Pam. Eric glanced at his progeny who was glaring at this plucky girl in a cold stance. Pam's eyebrow arched and she turned to her maker, hand on hip, clearly not amused at all.

'_Now_ do I have your permission to deal with her?'

Eric wasn't listening to the whining and complaining. The girl's eyes had fixed on his with an innocent yet dangerous stare. He found himself falling deep into the goldenness of them, becoming lost in their brightness. It was a strange feeling because he had had this happen to him before. Strange ...

'Are you the owner of this establishment?' the girl asked him directly.

It took a few seconds for the normally quick-witted Eric to answer her. 'I am, indeed.'

'That would make you Eric Northman.'

'Clever girl,' he grinned. He was going to have fun with this one.

Turning to Pam, who was shocked and suspicious, he gestured to the door with his eyes and Pam took the hint right away. Stalking off, she made sure that she knocked the girl on the side on the way out. When she had left, he glanced back at the girl who looked like she was about to laugh at Pam's attempts at payback.

'She seems delightful.'

Eric chuckled, 'Oh, wait until you haven't annoyed her. Then, you're in for a real treat.' He waited a few seconds before asking the question that had been plaguing him from the moment he glimpsed her standing there in his bar. 'What are you doing here, may I ask?'

She avoided his question and kept her eyes away from his. 'I believe we have a mutual friend.'

Eric half-expected her to say the name 'Sookie Stackhouse' – it was so common these days for that little telepath to show up in conversation. But she didn't mention the human that so intrigued Eric. She used the name that still pained him to hear. The name of the one person in the world that mattered to Eric, other than Pam. That person had gone. He had ended his long immortal life willingly, meeting the sun at dawn for the first time in over two thousand years. For Eric, there were now only memories of a long life spent together as the best of companions.

'Godric,' she said, her voice cracked as though she was about to cry too.

Eric was well beyond confused now. How could she have known Godric? Was she one of his humans, bereaved after the death of the vampire? Eric stiffened and automatically felt his hands ball into a fist as he remembered the last time he saw his maker, on the roof ...

'_I will not let you die alone._'

'_Yes. You will_.'

He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts again before asking in a hollow voice, 'How did you know Godric?'

'He spoke of you. He often told me about you. The Viking he saved from a journey to Valhalla. The warrior. So impulsive and seeking revenge ... '

'How?'

'I felt slightly jealous when I saw you. A little glimpse here and there over the centuries. I was jealous of – '

He cut her off. He could take no more of this. At his vampire speed, he flew at her and his hand gripped her swan-like neck, throwing both himself and the girl at the opposite wall. He pinned her to the wall and let his fangs drop, showcasing the monster underneath the charade. The girl's eyes flicked all over his fangs, not scared in the slightest.

'_Answer me!_' Eric demanded, hissing behind his fangs. 'How did you know my maker? Tell me in this breath or I swear it will be your last!'

He did not expect what would happen then. Her hands found his chest and threw him back. He was tossed carelessly like a rag doll. He landed hard on the cold floor of the bar, his head colliding with the ground. Before he could think to retaliate or even think for that matter, the girl zoomed to him and grabbed his throat as he had grabbed hers, pinning him to the floor. Eric struggled against her, but it was useless – she was stronger than he was. How was this possible? He was over a thousand years old. She could only be barely sixteen.

'Appearances can be deceiving, Eric,' she smiled sweetly and let her own fangs drop.

It all made sense. Eric's eyes widened as he saw the sparkling fangs extend underneath the red lips and the eyes sparkle in amusement. She looked at him, shaking her head like an adult does to a child.

'That was foolish,' she said and pulled him up by his throat until his feet touched the ground again. She let go of him and left him to stagger for a few seconds before looking at him with such care in her eyes. 'I think that a reintroduction is in order, don't you?'

Rubbing his throat where her hand had clasped it, Eric nodded, angered and confused. The girl smiled subtlety and turned the full force of her beautiful eyes on him as she began to speak.

'My name is Aurora. Curious, isn't it? For a vampire to be named after the dawn she will never see ... '

She took a breath and her eyes seemed to fill up with blood tears as she thought of something ... or someone ...

'Godric was your maker, Mr Northman. He was also mine.'

Eric froze, rooted to the spot. He did not move, he did not speak. He stood there dumbly staring at the girl in front of him. Aurora.

'I am your sister.'


	3. Chapter 3

Eric was dumbstruck, completely confounded. He had been silently locked in a staring match with the girl – _Aurora_, he mentally corrected himself – for just under ten minutes now. This had been the longest time he had ever been silent, his human and vampire life combined. He could not bring himself to find the right words. What could he say to answer what she had told him? Godric had never told him that he had a sister. Godric had always made it seem like Eric was his only progeny ...

'Eric,' Aurora said, a pleading tone in her voice. 'Please say something. Anything.'

Eric closed his eyes for a moment and took a sharp intake of breath. He waited until he had fully opened his eyes before he stated something in a cold tone he was partial to on more than one occasion.

'It's not true. You cannot possibly be my sister.'

'But it is,' she countered. 'It is and I am.'

Eric started to pace and she took a stool from the bar, placing it directly opposite him. She watched him pace like a hawk, observing each and every moment, preserving it in her memory. He was a curious one.

'It is not possible,' he said through gritted teeth. 'How could I have gone through all these years without some inkling that I had a sibling?'

'You have. It's quite extraordinary. I've always been there somewhere, deep inside the blood that you drank to become a vampire, when you and Godric became linked as I did all those centuries ago. You've never been alone, Eric. I have always been there. However, you have Pam to keep your mind occupied so you cannot begin to imagine what you could find deep within your consciousness.'

'None of what you are saying makes sense!' he snapped and she flinched sharply. 'Godric would have told me! _Why _wouldn't he have told me? Answer me that, seeing as you apparently were so close to him.'

Aurora blinked coolly. 'I don't like your tone, Eric. I come all this way, finally ready after so many years to meet you and here you are, interrogating me like the Spanish Inquisition. I've already been through that once and believe me, it's not something that should be repeated.'

Eric chuckled. Her dark humour was similar to his own, although he would never admit it.

'And also ... I had previously agreed with Godric that I would never meet you.'

Eric was stunned by this. Why would Godric agree to something so radical and preposterous?

'I admit that I was jealous of you,' she said sheepishly, her voice wavering slightly. 'I did think ill of you when I discovered that he had made another. I believed that I had been replaced. I did not wish to meet you ... and for that, I am sorry. I was childish and spiteful.'

'Why after all this time?'

She looked deeper into his eyes, searching for some compassion that Eric believed she would never find.

'You know why I'm here.'

Eric was about to retort when the answer came to him, quicker than expected because he already knew the answer, having been through exactly the same thing, the same experience, the same feelings ...

'I am alone now,' she said, her voice filled with an emotion that few vampires retained in the transition into immortals – grief. 'Godric was my maker and when he died on that rooftop, a part of me died with him. As did a part of you, brother.'

Eric's eyes flashed at this. She spoke the truth. She knew about the emotions and thoughts that he had never told anyone. Hell, he had never even admitted them to himself. He stared at her and noticed how much she was like him – her mannerisms, her occasional cold stare, those deep penetrating eyes ... Then, he looked again and saw the similarities to his ... _their_ deceased maker, such as the way she smiled knowingly, the careless grace, the occasional wise look ...

'You have your own progeny, I see. I have not the strength or the heart to make another vampire to become my companion.'

'Why?' Eric whispered.

'You make someone your immortal companion out of love, Eric. You did with your own a century ago. I could never make another because the love I would bear them would never equal the love I had for my maker.'

'You loved him?'

'He was like a brother to you, but before you, he was my first love.'

Had she been able to, Eric would have betted that she would have blushed at fond memories of a time long ago. He now wondered what she was like when she was human. How long ago had that been? How had she known Godric? His mind filled with so many questions. There was so much she could teach him about his maker that he himself had never been told.

'What do you say, Eric?' she said.

Eric walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. 'You can stay with me for as long as you need ... _sister_.'

She smiled and nodded eagerly. Her eyes sparkled and Eric copied her smile with his own grin.

'I'll be back tomorrow night,' she promised as she made for the door.

'It's almost dawn,' he said, concern filling his voice.

Aurora rolled her eyes exasperatedly. 'I'll be fine, Eric. See, you're taking this brother responsibility thing in your stride.'

Eric snorted and watched as she walked away, but he was surprised when she stopped at the door, looking back at him, her golden brown orbs beautifully rounded and glistening.

'Thank you, Eric. I promise that I will answer all the questions you have tomorrow. I want this opportunity ... to get to know you. You are the only family I have left.'

Eric's grin was wiped off his face by this as this struck a chord with him. Family ... For many decades, he believed Pam and Godric to be his only family. Now, he was adding this mysterious girl to those he would protect and ... dare he say it, _care_ for.

'Oh, and Eric? I'm just over two thousand years old so if I were you, I wouldn't try to attack me again like you did before. Only if you wanted to lose a limb or two ... '

**Hello, guys! This is my very first fanfic story so reviews are very much appreciated! I would love to hear some of your ideas as to the story and Aurora. More coming, including flashbacks! x**


	4. Chapter 4

Aurora made her way home that night with a smile plastered on her porcelain face. She flew silently over the tiny buildings that covered the stretch of Shreveport, over the miniscule speck that she instinctively knew was Fangtasia. The wind whipped at her face and she couldn't help but revel in the night breeze. The sky was lightening as it came much closer to dawn and she knew that she had to be home fast, but after all, she was immortal – what was a little adrenaline rush going to do? She zoomed ahead and saw that the sky in front of her was a deep shade of blood red. She had to be quick. She turned and flew in a straight line to the ground, landing on her feet expertly in front of a quaint house.

It was small and had been built in the fifties. It retained some of the features of that decade – the white picket fence and the white walls. When she had moved here shortly after it had been built, Aurora had added her own touches and one of these had been at least five rose bushes. Aurora loved roses and having them surround the house she lived in like a fortress was somewhat comforting as though they protected her whilst she slumbered during the day. She walked up the path and looked at the roses. They were different colours, splashes of red, yellow, pink and even black. She stopped at the sight of the one black rose – the product of years of magic and experimentation – and smelled it from a few feet away. The sweet scent filled her nostrils and she remembered the first time she had been overwhelmed by the scent when she was only a child.

_Lucretia, with a flick of the knife in her hand, sliced the stem of the rose cleanly and lifted it to her face. She inhaled the deep scent and looked down at her little sister, smiling as the toddler reached up with tiny fingers for the flower. She knelt before her, being careful not to crease the cream dress Father had had made for her. Her youngest sibling wandered towards her, her golden-brown eyes fixed on the luscious red of the rose with an intent that seemed well beyond her five years._

'_It's beautiful, isn't it?' Lucretia murmured in a gentle voice, watching her sister's unblinking eyes with fascination and adoration. 'Such a vibrant colour. Do you know what it means, my sweet?'_

'_Red is for war,' Cassius remarked, looking up from his wooden sword to see what was going on between his sisters. 'It is for the honour of Mars. Red is for war.'_

_Father has already began teaching him the ways of men, Lucretia thought with disdain. He was barely five years old and here he was, thinking of the wars and battles he had yet to fight and win. Within fifteen years, Cassius would be packed off and sent to war to fight petty squabbles for those in Rome who did not wish to have their own blood spilled. They were willing to shed the blood of young men and boys instead ..._

_Lucretia pulled a face at Cassius' remark. 'Partly, little brother. Only in part is red associated with war.' She turned now to the little girl next to her, smiling at her encouragingly. 'What does this red rose represent to _you_, little one?'_

_The little girl thought for a while and reached for the rose. Lucretia handed it to her and she held it as though it was made of pure gold. She stared at it, amazed, for a while before looking back up at Lucretia with a coy smile._

'_It means love,' she answered in five year-old simplicity._

_Lucretia nodded, her smile broadening even more and picked up the little girl, holding her close to her. She was so precious and just holding her made up for the tragedy that her birth – and her brother's – had cost their family ... Lucretia shook her head. She could not continue to dwell on that heart-rending memory. She made an effort to smile at her sister._

'_Yes, well done, Aurora.'_

_Aurora beamed and looked at her twin brother for words or a sign of encouragement. Cassius knowingly grinned at her and she nodded. It was almost like they knew what the other was thinking. They were the closest of siblings, which was a given as they were twins. Aurora looked down at the rose again and lightly stroked the soft petals with the tip of her finger. She had never seen anything so beautiful and she thought that she never would._

'How wrong I had been,' Aurora whispered to herself, absorbed in the memories of her human life. Things had been simpler back then. Her life had been so different, but then again, she could not really imagine her life without _him_ in it.

Entering the front door, she made her way through the small hallway and into the cellar. She had made it purposely built for her to be protected during the daylight hours when she was most vulnerable. The walls were a light shade of blue, but it was a facade that covered titanium walls lined with silver in places that she had memorized – effective for dealing with intruding vampires. There was a desk and a vanity mirror from the 1870's in the corner and a coffin was placed in the centre of the room – black and purple lining inside. She had picked it out during the 90's – there was a limited selection and it was not convenient for one as young as she was to be out in this day and age shopping for coffins.

Aurora made her way to the coffin and carefully lifted up the lid when she heard footsteps growing louder in volume as the person made their way down the stairs to the cellar. Aurora turned within a second and relaxed as her eyes fell on the human standing at the foot of the stairs. She was in her mid-fifties with mid-length black hair and tanned skin; her eyes were the colour of olives and her lined face was just as beautiful as it had been decades ago when Aurora had first met her. The woman walked up to her, talking to the vampire in a stern voice like a mother delivering a well-rehearsed lecture to her child.

'And what time do you call this, _senorita?_' she said, her voice laced in a thick Spanish accent. 'I've been sitting there for hours, watching that clock, knowing that dawn would be coming soon. And you weren't home.'

'I'm sorry,' Aurora muttered.

'I was worried about you,' the woman continued and sat down on the chair in front of the vanity mirror. 'I know you're old enough to take care of yourself – '

'Well, I have been doing that for centuries ... '

The woman's eyebrow arched and she shook her head. 'Just ... don't scare me like that. Get home in time. I don't want you wandering around the streets.'

'Why not?'

'Isn't it obvious, _mi querida_? After that Russell Edgington disaster, vampires across the state are being attacked and persecuted.'

'I always knew that idiot would do something to jeopardise our mainstreaming,' Aurora said loathingly. If there was one vampire she could not stand, it was Edgington. Their paths had crossed on numerous occasions and each time, both vampires had come out hating each other more than they did before.

'I know how strong you are, _mi preciosa_, but I worry about you. The humans know about your weakness to silver and there's talk of the Fellowship of the Sun rising in popularity.'

Aurora stiffened at the mention of that ... abominable place. She could not repress the hatred she felt whenever she heard that place or its Godforsaken owners mentioned. They had driven them to Godric's death. Even though he had gone to the sun willingly, it was almost like she could not accept it. For the most part, she blamed the church. If they could be barely be called a church ...

'I'm sorry, Maria,' Aurora apologized and walked to the human slowly. 'I won't worry you like that again.'

Maria smiled and leaned forward to kiss the vampire on the forehead. 'Thank you, daughter. Now, time for bed.'

Aurora nodded in earnest and got into the coffin, making herself comfortable for her deathlike slumber. She would sleep away the day and she would see her brother again. She thought of the things she would discuss with him, the memories she would share with him and him with her ...

'What are you smiling about, darling?' Maria said.

Aurora stopped smiling abruptly at this, but she couldn't help herself and went back to grinning again. 'Maria, I've met him./'

'Who, Aurora?'

'Godric's progeny, the one he made after me. The one I told you about. I met him.'

'Tonight?' Maria asked and at Aurora's excited nod, she continued. 'So, that's where you were ... '

'He lives and works in Shreveport. Maria, Eric is just like Godric told me. Arrogant, brash, manipulative ... a true vampire if ever I've seen. But he ... he feels. He's still grieving for Godric ... like me. He needs my help ... and I think I need his.'

Maria nodded, listening intently to Aurora. 'That's amazing, my dear. But now, you must rest. You'll get to see this Eric tomorrow night.'

Maria shut the lid slowly and Aurora was plunged into darkness. She thought of Eric again and of their maker, the man she loved. He was truly more wonderful than she thought already. He had brought them together.

'Yes,' Aurora whispered to herself as she closed her eyes to enter her deep sleep. 'I will.' 


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, me again! Thank you for the reviews - please keep them coming as I would love to hear from more of you. Flashback stories are coming soon, but first we need to see Aurora's eagerly awaited second night in Fangtasia ...**

The next night ...

The bar literally came alive at night, Aurora remarked to herself as she hovered silently over Fangtasia. Invisible to the mass of humans standing feet below her, she observed them curiously as a predator watches their prey. It was not the best metaphor to use, but it perfectly seemed to capture how intently she watched their every move.

The popularity of the bar had decreased since Edgington's cold-blooded murder live on air, but it appeared that even this act of brutality could not stop some humans from walking into the lions' den as it were, anxious to attend a real life vampire bar. Aurora shook her head, suppressing a laugh. Some of these breathers sure had a death wish.

As they lined up to face Pam, the bouncer, Aurora could clearly see every expression that flickered over their faces. Excitement, apprehension, nervousness ... The list could go on. However, Aurora saw an expression at one time or another flash over each human's face – fear. She knew it instantly for she had seen it many times before. She saw the fear in each of her victims' eyes before she drew the life from them and drained them of their blood. It hadn't mattered when she was a young vampire – they were no more than cattle, a different substance of food. But now, after _two thousand _years, she had seen enough bloodshed to last an eternity ...

As the last human filed through the door, Aurora decided to make her entrance and dropped to the floor, landing expertly on the heels of her black biker boots. She had picked out her outfit with care and precision; she was entering the human fold and she did not want to make a scene with what she wore. Pulling up the neck of her leather jacket with both of her hands as she had seen done in the fifties, she smiled as she recalled what would be waiting beyond the doors and strode to her destiny.

Pam was about to close the door when she spotted Aurora and disbelief spread across her face. Her red lips pulled into a smirk and she folded her arms across the tight PVC dress she wore for the benefit of her deluded clientele.

'Well, well. Look what the crowd dragged in.'

Aurora smiled and stopped in front of the other vampire, placing her hands on her hips. 'Good evening, Pam. So good to see you again.'

'Didn't Eric throw you out last night, little girl? Or do we have to get some kind of restraining order against you?'

'Actually, he invited me back. We have some business to discuss.'

Aurora went to push past her, but Pam's white hand found her arm and clenched it tight. Her fangs slid out from under her scarlet lip and her eyes were icy. Aurora stopped and found herself glaring at the insolent vampire with disdain and amusement.

'You don't get to go in without my say-so,' Pam hissed behind her glistening fangs. 'I think you'll find you're _way _too young, sweetheart.'

Aurora was bored of this. She wanted to see Eric. She wanted to see her brother.

'I think you'll find that I'm just about the right age,' she retorted and let her own fangs slide out.

Pam's face froze, her eyes bulging from her sockets as they fixed on the fangs in Aurora's mouth and the smug expression on her pale face was wiped away to become shock and disbelief. Her own fangs retracted and her grip slackened on Aurora's arm.

'Oh ... what the hell?' Pam whispered, stunned beyond belief. 'You're ... one of _us_?'

Aurora lifted her head slightly to show her fangs as proof. Pam, humiliated and humbled by this shock, bent her own head as a mark of respect; she must have sensed that Aurora was much older than her.

'Forgive me,' she murmured in a very un-Pam-like manner. 'I did not realise ... '

Aurora nodded at this surreal moment and placed her hand on Pam's shoulder. 'I understand. You do not need my forgiveness. It was an honest mistake.'

Pam straightened up and fell back into her casual stance, now opening the door for Aurora with a smirk. As she passed her, Aurora decided to keep this little moment to herself for Eric surely had to know of his progeny's softer side and besides, it could ruin Pam's reputation.

The bar was filled with swaying, chattering humans, making a ceaseless buzzing noise with their mindless speech. Music played over it, adding another needless layer to the sounds bouncing off the four walls of the establishment. The humans here were split into two categories – the tourists and the fangbangers. The tourists were the easiest to spot like flamingos amongst ravens, dressed in bright colours and flashing cameras at every minute detail within the bar from the walls lined with picture to the actual vampire serving them drinks. There was both apprehension and excitement in both parties, but the apprehension was more evident in the tourists. Most had come to Louisiana for the sole purpose of seeing or encountering a vampire, but these deluded people were mistaken to think that vampires were there for their entertainment and this fact had only been made clearer upon entering the bar. Then, scattered here and there, closer than any to the four or five real vampires, were the fangbangers. Evidently adorned in funeral black, their faces made pale with white makeup, these humans had been easily seduced by the dark and the dangerous that were vampires. They sat as close as they possibly could to the vampires, eager for a moment of their precious company. These made Aurora cringe the most. She had seen humans cower at the sight of vampires century after century, but seeing these fawn over her kind was more than she could take. They had no idea what they were doing and she found them too stupid and reckless for her liking.

Aurora removed her jacket and slung it over her shoulder, hooked on one of her fingers. She watched some of the fangbangers' attentions switch immediately to her – the new vampire in the room – but she ignored them easily, her eyes focused on the swirling mass of humans dancing to the beat of the humdrum music. She tossed her jacket in a corner and walked to the humans, not entirely decided on what she was planning to do. Upon seeing this beautiful young vampire, the humans parted like the Red Sea and she stood in the midst of them, circling like a hawk. Then, she began to dance.

Aurora lifted her arms up in the air, twirling her wrists to the beat. Her hips swayed to the pulsation of the music and her foot stamped against the ground. She closed her eyes and let the music take over her body, bending it to its will within seconds. Her fingers curled and she brought her arms down to her sides. Aurora's fingers ran through her hair and she looked at each entranced human with piercing eyes, glamouring them to dance and not to stare at her, to act like she was one of them. They did as obeyed and began to dance again, swinging and moving in a much slower tone before, as she did. A smile flitted across her lips and she was about to start again when a cold hand caught her own. She glanced up to see Eric standing there, his fingers clasped around hers, an intrigued look on his handsome face.

'You came back,' he stated, not knowing whether to really believe that she was there.

'Of course I did. One thing you must learn about me, Eric, is that I _never_ break my promises.'

'Well, that is one fact I am certain to remember. So how do you like Fangtasia?'

'Clichéd in every possible way,' she admitted, grinning. 'You have used every possible vampire stereotype out there to draw your customers in and I must say, it works. This place ... It's a metaphor for us.'

Eric's eyebrow raised as he pondered her spoken thought. 'How do you mean?'

'This place is dark and dangerous. Just like us. Humans come here, not knowing the next outcome. Like us.'

Eric's lips curved into a smile as he nodded, understand perfectly. 'You're right, Aurora. How very deductive you are.'

Aurora winked playfully and remembered what she had came here purposely to do. 'You said you had some questions for me, brother.'

Seeming to remember too, Eric offered his hand in a gentlemanlike way and Aurora took it without hesitation, taking the opportunity to curtsey to him as she did. He led her away from the bar and the music and the humans into his office – a small cramped room that should have typically been used by a businessman rather than a one thousand year-old Viking vampire. Eric gestured to the chair opposite the desk whilst he lent against the desk nonchalantly. Aurora sat down gracefully and watched Eric's face become excited. He must have a great deal of questions for her.

'I can see you're anxious to get started, Eric,' she teased.

'You have no idea. I don't think you understand what it feels like ... for me. Godric was my father, my brother ... he was my family. To find out that he had made another companion was startling at first, but then I realised. He is gone. He was the only family, besides Pam, of course, I had. And now, I have you ... a sister.'

'You're wrong, Eric,' she whispered, fiddling with her nails, trying to avoid his eyes as she spoke. 'I felt the exact same way when he ... He was my everything. My first love ... my only love, in fact ... '

A single blood tear made its way down her cheek and Aurora wiped it away impatiently. She had shed more than enough tears for Godric, but it seemed as though there would be still more in the future.

'I'm sorry,' she apologized to a still Eric. 'I shouldn't ... I thought that it would hurt less by now ... He's been gone almost a year ... '

'There's no need to apologize. The wound from his death will take time to heal. It doesn't mean it will ache now and again.'

Aurora tried to copy his encouraging smile, but she had not the strength for it so she looked straight at him and continued. 'Do you have questions for me to answer? I will try my best.'

'Your best is all that is required,' he said and thought for a moment on his question before deciding it. 'Can you tell me ... how you first met Godric?'

Aurora was a little surprised and for a vampire her age, this did not happen very often. 'The very beginning of all this?'

'Yes. If you wouldn't mind. We could talk about something else if you – '

'No,' Aurora cut her brother off. 'I want to ... I need to ... I already know how Godric found you.'

Eric went to speak and presumably ask her how she knew about that, but she was way ahead of him – about a thousand years ahead.

'He saw you fighting on the battlefield and decided to bestow the gift of immortality on you, the brave Viking hero, whilst you lay on your deathbed, awaiting a glorious afterlife in Valhalla.'

Eric was struck dumb at her statement, especially her correct pronunciation of the ancient land of the gods he had worshipped in his human life. Like a child listening to a story, his eyes widened and he waited desperately for her to continue.

'Now, my story goes back, even further than yours does, Eric. I was born in the great time of the Roman Empire.'

'You're a Roman?'

Aurora nodded regally as if already transported to the land where she had been born and raised. 'Correction: I _was_ a Roman. Technically, I am, in some ways. I was the daughter of Lucius Cassius Soranus, a Roman senator and a noble man. I was the sister of Lucretia and Cassius. I was Cassius' twin sister. My mother, also named Aurora, died during childbirth, mine and Cassius' birth to be exact. Twins were not as common as they are now and there were complications in the birth. She died and my brother and I lived. I was meant to be called Lucretia as this was the custom in my time, but my father bestowed my late mother's name on me in her memory.'

Eric never moved during this explanation; he could have been mistaken for a marble statue. He intently watched her, eager for her to begin the story of her human life, how she came to be what she was and how she met the vampire who had changed both of their lives.

'Now, the day I met Godric,' Aurora said, a thousand miles and two thousand years away. 'Ah, yes. I remember this day perfectly ... '


	6. Chapter 6

Two thousand years ago ...

Everything in front of Aurora was colours. There was nothing else but various shades of the most beautiful colours her eyes had ever had the opportunity of beholding. Reds, yellows, blues, pinks, greens ... She was mesmerized and she felt herself being almost hypnotized by each new tint she came across. These enchanting colours had been painted onto a thousand different flowers, collected in blinding bundles meant to entice people like her. She felt herself longing to gather up an armful of the flora and spend hours just looking at them, observing them in all their delicate beauty.

'Aurora,' a familiar voice said dreamily. 'Aurora ... '

Aurora blinked and came back from her enchanted state, turning to her sister. Lucretia wore a look of amusement and familiarity; she had seen this dreamy, faraway look many, many times before. Lucretia shook her head and stepped closer to her younger sister, linking her arm with her own.

'I've got to pick out twelve dozen _perfect_ flowers for the wedding tomorrow and the last I need is you daydreaming when I need you to help me.'

'I'm sorry, sister,' Aurora said, blushing. 'I'll concentrate, I promise.'

Lucretia rolled her eyes, which then scanned the flowers and examined them each in turn. 'I'm torn ... between the gardenias and the roses.'

The seller looked thrilled at the possibility of such a sale and handed both a pink gardenia and a white rose to Lucretia with a flourish. 'It is entirely your choice, my lady. Pray I humbly enquire ... to what occasion should these flowers be used for?'

Lucretia tried to hide a smile. 'The occasion was be my marriage, kind sir.'

'And when should that be, dear lady?'

'Tomorrow, sir.'

The seller bowed low to Lucretia and smiled widely. 'Many happy returns to both you and your husband, my lady. If you should like to hear my advice, I would choose the gardenia. None such a perfect item for such a happy occasion.'

Lucretia glanced at the aforementioned flower in her hand and turned to her sister. She valued her opinion above anyone else's and it was her judgement that she would follow without any complaint or questions asked.

'Aurora? What do you think?'

Aurora took the flowers from her slowly and held them both in her hands. She took a deep breath of their own aromas and twirled the stems around her fingers, eager to make a fair and just decision. However, the decision as to which flower would decorate their house on the day of her only sister's wedding had already been made minutes ago.

'The rose,' she finalised simply to Lucretia's knowing nod.

'But, my lady,' the seller began, reddening in colour, flustered that his own advice had been ignored for favour of a mere child's, 'surely you would prefer the gardenia ... '

'No, thank you, sir. My sister is not yet seventeen and yet she has more sense than half the Senate in Rome. Her decision is the only one I choose to follow, even against my own. Therefore, I shall twelve dozen of these white roses if you please.'

Grumbling to himself, the seller went about his business and placed the correct number of white roses in a woven basket, albeit irritably. He handed it to Lucretia and she paid him in gold coins at this exchange. He bowed low to both of the sisters and they left his stall, smiling quietly to themselves.

'I thought he would spit on them, the look on his face,' Lucretia laughed when they were out of earshot and in the main part of the town. 'To think ... a girl besting a man of his years.'

Aurora batted her eyelashes in mock flattery. 'I _do_ try, sister. Besides, you knew which ones I would pick from the moment you decided the final two.'

'Of course I did. I know you far too well, sweetheart.'

'But you let _me_ decide. I picked my own favourite for _your _wedding. What a selfish – '

Lucretia stopped her and placed both her hands on Aurora's shoulder, forcing their eyes to lock. 'No, Aurora. You are not selfish. You are the most selfless person I know. I knew you would pick the rose and truth be told, I was glad.'

'Why?' Aurora was stunned; her sister valued her too high indeed.

'After the wedding tomorrow, I will go to live with Fabricius. His home is miles away and I will hardly ever see you or your brother or Father. This is the farewell you shall give me, seeing as we are to be further apart than we have ever been before.'

Lucretia's grip slackened and she relaxed her stance. Aurora reached for her sister's hand and patted it gently, knowing that they only had one night until the nuptials and the time would soon come when Aurora and Cassius would have to face life without their elder sister watching over them and taking care of them as she had done since they had lost their mother.

'Let's not think of these sad things,' Aurora said. 'You'll always be my sister and I will never lose you.'

A tear fell from Lucretia's eye and rolled down her cheek. She tried to smile but sighed instead and looked around her as the masses seemed to die down in the middle of the day.

'Right, that's enough tears for today. We still have so much to do. We have an appointment at the tailors in about a half hour and it is imperative that I see my dress, preferably _before_ my wedding.'

'Hold still, Miss.'

'Aurora, do as she says and for the love of the gods, do not fidget.'

'I am trying!' Aurora snapped impatiently.

She had been standing there for just over an hour now whilst the seamstress nipped and tucked her dress. Aurora wondered whether there would be any material left when she was finished – whenever that would be, Aurora could not imagine. She eagerly awaited a stab of a pin or a tear of the fabric, but she held firm and remembered the decorum and etiquette she had been brought up to show. She looked down at the seamstress, a middle-aged woman with a pinched face that reminded Aurora of a wrinkled raisin. She laughed out loud and covered her mouth instantly, fighting the urge to giggle. The seamstress raised an eyebrow and resumed her work, sewing the hem with military precision in such a feminine task; after a few minutes, she decided that she would engage in conversation with her impatient client.

'So, Miss Soranus, how are your family keeping?'

'They are all in excellent health, ma'am. Thank you for enquiring.'

'How old are you now, Miss? Fourteen, fifteen ... ?'

Aurora looked down at the seamstress and chuckled softly. 'I have just turned sixteen, ma'am.'

The seamstress could hardly believe her ears and stopped her work momentarily to look up at Aurora in disbelief. 'Seven–? Surely not. Why, it seems like only yesterday that your mother was here buying her own wedding dress. She looked so overjoyed to be marrying your father. She didn't stop smiling from the minute she walked in to the moment she left. So happy ... '

Aurora's hand automatically raised to her heart as she thought of her mother. Tears filled her eyes and her heart ached sadly as her mind turned back to the mother she had never got the chance to know or even meet.

'Your sister is marrying Fabricius, is she not?' the seamstress said, realising the delicate subject matter.

Aurora nodded and cleared her throat free of tears and sadness to answer her. 'Yes, tomorrow, in fact.'

'Nice young man. Honourable, decent. Good wealth and standing. He will take good care of young Lucretia.'

Aurora nodded to show her own approval of her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

'Soon enough, your father will be arranging _your _marriage, my dear.'

Aurora froze to the spot, only now doing as her sister had asked. It was a fact that many of her friends were already married; some of them were even mothers to young children Aurora had often visited and cooed over. She had never given much thought to the prospect of being married because no man had ever asked for her hand. Obviously as she grew into the beautiful young woman she was now, there had been stares, some mad declarations of love and astonishment at her beauty. Although, there was nothing too serious for her father to genuinely consider. There had been no one who had made Aurora's heart skip a beat and this was what she was waiting for, her soul mate ...

'Oh, you look beautiful, my lady!' chuckled the seamstress as Lucretia finally made an appearance. Aurora snapped to her senses and plastering a smile on her face for her sister, she turned around to face the blushing bride.

Lucretia was a vision in white in a simple plain dress with a golden broach encrusted with the family symbol and a belt tied around her waist. She had adorned her wrists and her neck with gold to complete the look and she had tied up her long blonde hair in a style fashionable to the young ladies of Rome. She looked older than her mere eighteen years yet she still retained a childlike innocence that came with the glowing white gown. She was the most beautiful bride Aurora had ever seen and she couldn't help but smile properly at the woman her sister had become.

'You look beautiful, my lady,' the seamstress commented. 'The dress fits you perfectly, even if I do say so myself.'

Lucretia beamed at the woman who had given her this beautiful gift. 'Thank you, Cornelia. It is beautiful.'

Cornelia, the seamstress, stood then and clasped Lucretia's hands as she prayed. 'May the gods grant you a long and happy marriage, dear Lucretia. May your wedding day be as happy as your future life with your husband will be.'

Lucretia nodded and her eyes glanced at Aurora in her own gown. They widened and she picked up the fabric to go closer to her younger sister, looking it up and down in amazement and astonishment.

'Dear sister, you look enchanting!'

Aurora looked down at the dress. It was a perfect cream with simple yet elegant gold lining in the hem and sides. She knew that she looked nothing like her beautiful sister, but she was amazed as to how a mere garment could transform her into a princess. She looked at both Cornelia and Lucretia before sighing and silently wishing to herself that she should look this beautiful on her own wedding day.

'When are you to give your bulla to Father?' Aurora asked as they strolled down through the town, their dresses neatly placed in another basket, ready for tomorrow.

Lucretia, upon hearing it mentioned, fiddled with the precious locket she had been given at birth. It was the custom for when a girl goes to marry, the bulla must be given to her father as a sign of her release from his guidance and care. 'Later tonight, after supper, I believe. All of my toys and childish possessions go to you and your brother, naturally.'

'I am sure that Cassius desires your dresses and spinning wheel,' Aurora chuckled.

The two sisters dissolved into laughter and it lasted for a great many minutes. When there was silence, Aurora thought to ask the question that had irritating her mind for quite some time.

'Lucretia?' she asked and waited until she had her sister's full attention. 'Do you love Fabricius?'

Lucretia stopped and thought on this for a while. 'I admire him, yes.'

'No. You do not answer my question, sister. Admiring someone and loving them are two very different things. Do you _love _him?'

Lucretia's eyes filled with a sense of doubt but she shook her head free of these unkempt thoughts. 'I do not love him ... yet. But it does not matter ... '

'Of course it matters!' Aurora burst out, heatedly. 'It must matter. Without love, there can be no happiness. If you do not love this man, then why are you marrying him?'

'Aurora, you are young. You have been in the world for less time than I have so listen to me when I say that women in this world have no choice. We are told what to do and when to do it. We are told who to marry – '

'But not who to love! That choice we can make ourselves!'

'You are just a child!' Lucretia retorted. 'You do not understand! We were to be married as young as fourteen, but Father decided against it. He had no wife to upkeep the house and it was sensible for him to keep us there. I was lucky that Fabricius asked for my hand when he did. A few months more and no-one would have me ... '

Aurora's anger died down slightly, but her voice was a hiss now, her words coming out through gritted teeth. 'I hate this. I hate it all. Why can I not marry the man _I _want?'

'Because, sister, the world is a much different place than the bubble we have been kept in at home. One day, soon enough, Father will pick you a husband and you will grow to love him.'

'What if I do not? What if I detest him, loathe him, _despise_ him?'

'Then, you must pray to the gods that Father does not pick a man who you will feel that way for,' Lucretia said. 'Generation after generation of women in our family – every family in Rome, in fact – have been married to men they have barely known, men their fathers have chosen for them. It is the way it has always been for us.'

'Why can't I be different?' Aurora now whispered. 'I want things to be different ... '

Lucretia kissed her sister's forehead lovingly. 'Someday, they will be. But you must realise that this may not be for a long time. Things may change, but for now, Aurora, you must accept things as they are ... as I have done.'

Aurora nodded, staring away from her sister, focusing on the temple in front of her. Maybe she would send out a prayer to the gods before her sister's wedding for both Lucretia's happiness and her own in the near future.

'Let us go home now,' Lucretia told her. 'I have a great deal of things to arrange and there is hardly any time left in which to do them.'

'You go on,' Aurora said, making her way in the direction of the temple. 'I shall follow you. I wish to pray. I should not be long.'

Lucretia looked confused but did as her sister requested. When she had disappeared, Aurora entered the temple, but instead of going to pray as she had set out to do, her eyes met with the strangest and most horrific sight.

A man, a priest, was standing over a young boy, whip in hand, ready to lash again. The boy, who Aurora guessed to be her age, cowered underneath him, long red gashes on his back. The boy did not scream or cry for help; he simply lay there, helplessly, waiting for the next lashing. The priest, dressed in long ceremonial robes, raised his hand high in the air to summon the power to strike the poor boy again. Aurora could not watch this; the boy had been through enough pain and she could hardly stand to watch him go through more.

'What are you doing?' she asked in a strong voice that she almost did not recognize as her own.

The priest stopped and turned to face her. He was a man in his forties with a lined face and a bald head. He saw Aurora, the daughter of a noble, and bowed low in respect, completely forgetting his previous actions and what he was subjecting this boy to.

'Aurora Soranus,' he greeted her and she returned the gesture slowly. 'What brings you here on this time of evening? Have you come to pray?'

'What are you doing to that boy?' Aurora asked him, diverting the questions. Her eyes met the boy's and their gaze locked. They stared at each other, their brown and blue eyes colliding with such force that Aurora had to take a second breath. He was young, around sixteen with brown hair and a handsome face. Whilst their gazes were fastened, Aurora felt a shiver go through her. He was important ... He needed to be saved ...

'This boy,' the priest said, venomously, pointing at the boy with one stubby finger, 'is a _thief_.'

Aurora was shocked at this. He was merely a boy – surely the priest would have leniency and forgiveness on someone so young. She had seen beatings before, but never had she witnessed such a brutal lashing.

'Why type of thievery could warrant such a punishment, may I ask?' Aurora said sternly, wanting a direct answer.

'I am saddened to tell you, young miss, but his crime should be known. This despicable specimen stole bread from this very temple!'

'It was ... to feed the others,' the boy said in a weak voice with a hint of a foreign accent, his eyes never leaving Aurora's.

'The others?' Aurora repeated. Her attention was now fully on the boy again, whose very words were drenched in agony.

'He is a slave,' the priest spat at the boy, his tone sweetening as he addressed Aurora. 'From the lands of the north. Gaul, I believe. There are twenty others like him, down in the slave – '

'We are starving!' he cried out in anguish. 'My brother is not yet three years old and he needs food. He may not survive another winter if he does not regain his strength.'

'One less piece of vermin to deal with,' the priest sneered.

Something inside the teenager snapped and he lunged at the priest, hands out to grab him. However, although he seemed strong and driven, he was too weak and the priest kicked him in the face before he could do anything more. The boy lay there on the floor, one hand clasped to the side of his face where a deep gash now resided.

Aurora could not bear to watch anymore of this. She had to save him from whatever dark fate she was sure he was to meet soon.

'What are you planning to do with him?'

'In the morning, I shall take him to the guards. They will throw him in prison or ... have done with him. He is none of our concern.'

'Not even when you spill his blood in this sacred place?' Aurora challenged. 'Forgive me for intruding, but is it not your duty to honour the gods than shame them by beating this boy to within an inch of his life in their holy temple?'

Aurora swore that she could almost see a smirk on the boy's face as she launched this tirade on the priest. Aurora could hardly believe what she was saying, and to a figure of authority as well. Her father would have scolded her for it had he been here, but she knew that she had to do something for this boy. She had to.

The man thought for a moment and looked at Aurora critically. 'You have a sharp tongue, young Lady Soranus. Your mind is as quick as this here whip.'

'I should think not,' she murmured.

'And what, pray tell, would _you_ do for this lowlife? What punishment would _you_ bestow upon his miserable, pathetic excuse for a life?'

Aurora thought long and hard, but it was he himself had said: her mind was sharp and it took her no more than a few seconds to come up with an answer. When she delivered it, she had eyes only for the boy, who watched her in astonishment and ... admiration.

'Forgiveness.'

The priest scoffed and went to interject, but she continued swiftly, speaking to both of them firmly and sincerely.

'My father, Lucius Cassius Soranus, is in need of a new house servant. This boy will come and work for my family. There he shall learn forgiveness and humility.'

She knew better than to lie in a temple of all places, but she prayed to the gods to forgive her for lying to save a life. Her father would need much persuasion to allow him to work in the house, but Aurora knew that was the least of her worries at the moment.

The priest considered this offer, stroking his chin in thought. 'You would take full responsibility?'

Aurora's eyes once again met the boy's as she nodded sincerely.

'Fine,' the priest grumbled. 'Do what you like. I expect no payment for this slave.'

'And his sin is forgiven?' Aurora stated.

'Oh, all right, then,' the priest snapped and made his way out of the temple, muttering and cursing to himself all the while.

As soon as he had gone, Aurora found herself running to kneel next to the boy. She grabbed him and hoisted him from the floor until he was in a sitting position facing her. She immediately was entranced by him, his foreign beauty, his silent staring ...

'Thank you for what you did,' he murmured.

'No need to thank me,' she said. 'I was just doing what any decent person would do.'

'Well, you're the first decent person I've met here.'

Aurora noticed the gash on his cheek bleeding quite forcefully, but she had nothing in sight to use to dab at it. She then saw her dress – a near-scarlet simple garment – and reached to tear the hem.

'Don't,' the boy said, but it was too late and Aurora ignored him.

She tore the hem off and it made a long roll of material. She wound it up and gently pressed it against his wound. She held it to his face and found herself holding his cheek with her other free hand.

'You may need stitches,' she said, 'but I am no physician. My father has one – '

'Did you really mean what you said to him?' he interrupted her. 'About giving me a place in your household?'

'Of course I did. I meant every word of it.'

The boy looked astonished and then lowered his eyes to the floor humbly. 'Thank you, my lady.'

'No need for that,' she said, taking the compress off to check the wound. There was a little swelling and a little more blood than she would have liked, but it would be fine in a few weeks.

'No need for what?'

'Formalities. 'My lady' and such terms.'

'Seeing as I am to be working for you, I believe that I must address you thus to show you the utmost respect.'

Aurora stared at the boy, one eyebrow raised. 'You are right. In public, you may call me 'my lady' but my name is Aurora. I wish to be addressed by my given name.'

'Aurora,' the boy ran the name over his lips like a new flavour. 'It is a beautiful name.'

'I was named after the dawn.'

'No wonder,' he said. 'Your beauty is as glorious as the morning sun.'

Aurora blushed and set to work immediately, rather flustered, helping him to his feet. He was a few inches taller than she was, but their eyes were on a perfect level, locking together in a way that Aurora had never felt before.

'And may I enquire as to your name?' she asked curiously.

The boy looked hesitant and almost reluctant to speak his own name. Aurora smiled encouragingly and placed a hand around his arm to steady him as he was weak, having only just enough strength to stand. A shock of electricity shot through Aurora and her fingers tingled upon coming into contact with his skin, but she did not remove her hand. The boy's eyes widened as though he had felt the same thing. Impossible.

'If you are to call me Aurora, what should I call you?'

The boy closed his eyes as though remembering some dark memory and uttered one name in a soft tone. 'Godric.'

'Godric,' Aurora repeated. It was the strangest yet most wondrous name she had ever heard of and she believed that it matched its owner perfectly.

'Take my hand, Godric,' she said and offered her hand.

He did as she said, squeezing her hand softly before they walked together to their fate, knowing somewhere in the very back of their minds that their destinies were tied to this very meeting and to each other.


	7. Chapter 7

Two months later ...

_It was bright here, filled with glorious sunlight. Aurora had felt the harsh rays of the dawn before and hissed, immediately covering her eyes with her hand, but she soon found that the sun was not burning her. She removed her hand, confused and astounded, and checked it for any sign of scorching. There was none; her porcelain flesh was perfect and unblemished. She blinked as she looked at the sun high in the sky. It was midday and she was not frying in the sunshine. For a few seconds, she thought the impossible, believing herself to be human again. Then, she remembered with a pang of sadness that this could only be a dream. She was a vampire and she would remain one for the rest of time. As Godric had once said, that was something that could never be changed._

_Taking this precious time to bask in the glorious daylight, Aurora took a few short glances around her to try and establish where exactly she was. She appeared to be in a meadow of sorts. She felt the grass underneath her fingers and on the backs of her legs, smelling them as she remembered days of her human life, just lying in grassy fields and dreaming of her future. In those days, she had taken so many things for granted. It was as if she did not truly know what she had until she had lost it forever._

'_Nothing's ever lost forever, my love.'_

_The hairs on the back of Aurora's neck stood up and her heart, although having not beaten once in over thousand years, was set aflutter by this voice she knew better than any sound in the whole of the world. She turned her head to the side to the place where the voice had spoken and felt the breath be knocked from her body and her heart skip faster than it had ever done before in both her human and her immortal life. _

_Godric was standing there, exactly as she had known him, dressed in the same white garments he had worn that night. It had been the last night she had seen him before he had let himself be parted from her. He wore the smile he had once told her was just for her and stared at her lovingly as he had done every single night they had been together as both humans and vampires._

'_Hello, Aurora,' he said, his eyes round and filled with profound emotions._

_It took all the energy Aurora had to say something, anything, to him – the man she loved more than anything else on this earth. She choked out the one word she could think of saying, the most sacred word to her in any language she knew._

'_Godric?'_

'_I'm here, love,' he assured her. 'I'm here.'_

_Using all the speed she could collect, she got to her feet and ran towards him. She was enveloped in his arms where she had often been held so many times and he lay his head on hers, his hand stroking her hair and her back. She held on to him as she knew that like that night, at some point she would have to let him go. After a few precious seconds of just being with her Godric, she looked up at him and he smiled down at her. Blood tears ran down her cheeks and she could clearly see some in his own wise eyes._

'_Don't cry, my Aurora,' he told her softly. 'I hate to see you cry ... '_

'_But you're here, Godric,' she whispered as though she could hardly believe it herself. 'You're really here.'_

_He cupped his fingers around her chin and brought her lips to his, igniting the centuries-old passion and love between them like a fire. The instant their lips touched, it was electric, passionate and fiery. Her hands reached up to his hair and ran her fingers through his soft hair whilst he placed his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. With every second, the kiss became more fervent yet it never lost its true meaning – these two soul mates had been separated and now they were together again. Aurora in her own rational mind knew that this was not real, that she would wake up any minute soon. But all she could think of was that her Godric was here, really here. She was feeling him, she was kissing him ... He was real. _

_Godric broke free of the kiss and lent his forehead against hers, their lips inches apart, breathing heavily. 'I love you.'_

'_And I love you,' she answered him and closed her eyes as he planted another kiss on her lips, this time lighter and sweeter as they had done years ago after awakening from a day's slumber. He took her hand in his and they strolled across the meadow to the very spot that Aurora had found herself in, sitting down fluidly as only vampires could. When they were comfortable, Godric wrapped his shoulder around Aurora and she rested her head on his chest, sighing in happiness. He was here. They were together. Everything in the world seemed so right and so perfect at that moment; Aurora swore that she would give up everything she had, even her immortality as a vampire, to stay with Godric here forever. She didn't care about any cost. She just wanted him. _

'_As I want you,' he said. 'As I will always want you.'_

_Aurora stiffened and turned her head slightly so that their eyes met. 'What? Did you just ... hear what I was thinking?'_

_Godric stifled a grin and nodded. 'Yes, my dear. I did.'_

'_How? That's impossible.'_

'_Aurora, you know that nothing is impossible. We are impossible, having lived for so long. Our whole existence is impossible, yet here we are, just the same as we always have been.'_

'_Godric,' she murmured, relishing the name on her lips. 'I ... I miss you. I miss you so much that I do not know what to do any more.'_

'_I know, my darling.'_

'_Why did you leave me?' she uttered in no more than a whisper. 'Why did you have to die?'_

'_You know why, Aurora,' he muttered in a tone that was difficult for even her to read. 'I explained to you on the roof that night before I met the sun.'_

'_Yes, you explained. I tried to convince you to come back, but you didn't listen to me.'_

'_I couldn't. I had had enough, Aurora.'_

'_Of what?'_

'_Life, being what I was ... '_

_Aurora closed her eyes and dared to say what was going through her mind; however, there was no doubt that Godric could hear what she was thinking perfectly. _

'_Me?'_

_Godric tightened his grip around her and kissed her head gently. 'No. Of course not. Why would you think that'_

'_You met the sun, even though I tried to dissuade you otherwise. What am I supposed to think, Godric?'_

'_You weren't the only one. A telepath was with me at the end.'_

'_A telepath?' Aurora repeated the alien phrase._

'_She was part faerie. She stayed with me until the sun rose. She even cried for me.'_

'_I did too,' she informed him. 'I cried for months on end, but then I remembered that tears were not going to bring you back.'_

_Godric lay down in the grass and Aurora joined him, their arms wrapping around each other. Godric's hand lay on her shoulder and the other on her cheek, a finger on each stroking her porcelain skin absentmindedly. _

'_I did as you asked,' Aurora said then after a few minutes of silence._

'_You did?'_

'_Yes, I met Eric. About four months ago.'_

'_And?' he pressed her for answers, almost eager to hear of the meeting of his two progenies. 'How did it go? Did I react in the way I think he would?'_

'_Well, when I was almost about to tell him that he was my brother, he attacked me and threw me against the wall of Fangtasia and threatened with something along the lines of saying why I was there – ' Aurora took the opportunity to mock Eric and put on a deep voice that closely resembled the Viking's ' – or 'this breath may be your last!'.'_

_Godric chuckled. 'Just like Eric. Fangs before thoughts. And did he accept you?'_

'_He was reluctant and hesitant at first, but then he warmed up to me.'_

'_Eric doesn't warm up to people.'_

'_Well, he did whatever Eric does to people he cares for.'_

_Godric kissed her forehead lightly. 'Thank you, love.'_

'_For what?' _

'_Agreeing to my last request. I believed ... I hoped that one day, you would meet and you would help each other through whatever time would come.'_

'_I'll help him, Godric,' she vowed to him. 'I'll help him and maybe he can help me.'_

'_That's good. Do you know how much I love you?'_

_Aurora smiled and lifted herself from his arms to sit up and look down at him as he lay there, one arm now behind his head, a beautiful beaming smile tugging at his lips._

'_Yes. And it's not as much as I love you.'_

'_Oh, I don't believe that's possible,' he chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her again._

_The kiss ended too quickly with a rupture of thunder. Aurora looked up to the skies. Thunder? Sure enough, the blue skies were now a violent grey and storm clouds encroached the skies, turning the beautiful blue a dark funeral black. A flash of thunder struck the skies and it began to rain, lashing down heavily on the meadow. Aurora looked at Godric who was staring at her in disbelief. Suddenly, he started to fade. Patches of his white skin brightened until they vanished completely and he felt like no more than air to her._

'_Godric!' she cried for him, but it was too late. He was disappearing from view, vanishing into thin air as the rain whipped past them from the dark heavens above._

'_I love you,' he whispered before he completely vanished, leaving her alone in the dark meadow._

'_No, Godric!' she cried, her own tears mixed with the rainfall. 'No, don't leave me! Please! Godric! Godric! No! _Godric!_'_

Aurora woke then, drenched in her own blood-red tears. She rubbed her eyes free of those new tears now springing to them and calmed herself down. It had only been a dream, an illusion. It had been a nightmare of the darkest sort. It wasn't real. But as Aurora fell back into the death-like slumber for the rest of the day, she could not help but feel that Godric really had communicated with her. It was as if her lover still had affairs in the world he had left behind.

**It has been four months since their last meeting. I needed a big jump because I have more ideas for when Sookie comes home/Eric loses his memory etc. REVIEW AND GIVE ME SOME OF YOUR IDEAS! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THEM! XOXO**


	8. Chapter 8

Aurora woke a little earlier than she usually did, getting out of her coffin and the cellar only a few minutes after the sun had set. She couldn't sleep very well, not after the dream with Godric. Every time she shut her eyes, she was transported back to the meadow and she was forced to watch her love disappear over and over again like a stuck record. She now found herself in the kitchen of her little house, observing the darkening sky through one of the windows. It was the same as it had been every night since she had been made a vampire, yet it was more prominent to her than ever before.

'Are you hungry, Aurora?' asked Maria behind her, who was making a stir fry for herself.

Aurora turned and nodded, her thirst bubbling to the surface upon being mentioned. As she was over two thousand years old, she required very little blood in order to survive so she sustained herself on the synthetic blood made only a few years ago. For the majority of her life, she had fed on humans, draining them dry in a single feeding. However, as she became older, she began to see humans as more than the carriers of the life force that she craved and needed. She saw them as living things and the more she dwelt on those feelings, the more difficult it had been then to feed from them. She felt their pain, their horror and when they died, she felt like crying over them. Vampires had ridiculed both Aurora and her maker for these feelings towards 'blood bags', but Aurora rarely listened to them – she, at least, was better than any of them.

Maria left her stir fry to cook and reached into the fridge for a bottle of Tru Blood. She brought out a O-negative and handed it to Aurora, who took it gratefully.

'O-neg,' she commented. 'My favourite. How did you guess?'

'Oh, please. I've known you for twelve years. Don't you think I would have had some inkling of your blood preferences?'

Aurora rolled her eyes and opened the bottle expertly, sipping it lightly. It tasted nothing like the liquid it had been made to replace, but it was the best substitute that there was for blood. Aurora knew that most vampires would rather starve than give up the real thing in favour of the replacement substance and it was completely naive of the Authority and the rest of the world in fact to believe that all vampires would immediately and without question switch to the synthetic blood.

'It's weird when you talk about blood so casually, you know,' Aurora pointed out to the human who had finished making her meal and laid it out on a plate, complete with parsley leaves gracing the top.

'It comes naturally after living with a vampire for so long, _mi querida._'

Aurora chuckled and downed the bottle in one, feeling her thirst more than ever. She threw the empty bottle into the trash can and walked past Maria, kissing her on the forehead.

'I'll see you in the morning, _madre_,' she said, using the Spanish word for 'mother'.

Maria's smile brightened as she heard this and she turned to watch Aurora go up the stairs. 'Off to see Eric, are we?'

'Maria, do you even need to ask?'

'Of course, my darling. Be home at a decent hour though.'

Aurora rolled her eyes and made her way to a room next to Maria's, a room filled with clothes. Aurora was someone who could never bring herself to throw anything away so she resolved to keep everything she owned throughout the years with minor exceptions. Her reasoning was that once it was lost, there was hardly any way of getting it back. She had learned that the hard way.

Changing into a halter neck top covered in diamantes and skin tight black denim jeans, she added the final touch, an accessory she never went a day without wearing. She placed a woven band around her wrist, beset with a single ruby, the black of the band contrasting against the white of her skin. She touched it gently and her mind filled with a thousand memories. Her brother, her beloved Cassius, had given this to her. It had once belonged to him.

A single blood tear dripped down and blemished the white of her skin. She hurriedly wiped it away and looked out of the open window, staring at the stars she had observed night after night. Somehow, they seemed to shine much brighter tonight, twinkling on a canvas of black. She looked up and knew that somewhere her family – her father, her sister Lucretia and her brother Cassius – were watching her, hopefully smiling down on the youngest of the house of Soranus.

Aurora looked down and expertly leapt from the window, feet first. Before she hit the ground, she hovered and with a smile, she launched herself into the night sky, deciding tonight to dance amongst the stars as if she was one herself.

* * *

><p>The night at Fangtasia was busy as always in Eric's opinion. The bar was surrounded by drunk humans, clamouring for more shots of vodka which the new bartender was only too happy to serve out. The dance floor was filled with swaying couples and the odd single idiot dancing solely, too intoxicated by the feel of the bar and one too many Martinis to notice that they were being stared at by others. As per usual, Eric sat on the throne on the small stage, bored at watching these revellers now for he had seen the same thing every night for as long as he had owned this bar and established it.<p>

'You look bored, Eric,' Pam said as she made her way up to stand next to him, one arm propped against the back of the throne. 'Bored doesn't suit you.'

'I am not bored. I am merely thinking things over.'

'You're brooding and you know it,' Pam shot back. 'Jesus, you're getting more and more like King Compton every day.'

Eric rolled his eyes and concentrated on the throng of dancers. Here and there he would steal a glimpse from a beautiful woman, eager to stare into a vampire's deep eyes, but his mind was on a completely different girl, a gem amidst these common rocks ...

'Seriously, Eric, what is wrong with you?' Pam snapped all of a sudden.

Eric blinked, confused, feeling the full brunt of his progeny's anger. He turned to fully look at her. 'If I have done something to upset you, my child, please air your thoughts. Oh, wait, you're about to.'

'You're changing, Eric,' Pam said, kneeling next to her maker and gripping his arm forcefully. 'I can feel it so do not deny it.'

'How exactly am I changing, Pamela? Do tell me.'

Pam stared into his eyes and he saw the innocence and fear in her, something that only he could see. 'You're locking yourself in your office and you're thinking so much. I know what you're thinking about. It's him, isn't it? Godric.'

Eric's eyes tore themselves from Pam's to the dance floor as his maker was brought unexpectedly into the conversation. He barely had time to retort because she had already started to continue with her explanation.

'You're so distant, Eric. I can barely reach you. Is this all to do with Godric or is it the great vanishing Sookie? And don't try and hide it from me, Northman. You've been sending humans to all four corners of the globe looking for that damn waitress. Face it, Eric – she's been gone for a year. She's probably not coming back.'

'You're wrong,' Eric said through gritted teeth. 'She will come back.'

'How do you know she isn't six feet under?' Pam went back, fully involved in this tongue lashing. 'Cause if she is, my money's on Compton.'

Eric snapped his head to his progeny and silenced her immediately with a single look, unleashing the full intensity of his eyes on her. Pam's lips shut and she looked scared because she knew that she had pushed her maker too far this time.

'Pamela, if you say one more word about Sookie, I swear I will throw you out of here and send you to find her myself.'

Pam nodded and stood again, her eyes cold and steady. She resumed her position behind Eric, watching the humans with the same concentration. Her eyes then flickered to the door which had opened to reveal the girl vampire who so frequented Fangtasia – Aurora. Watching her intently, Pam shook her head in mild amusement, observing the vampire wander around for a few seconds before her eyes fell on Eric and her face wore a look of happiness. Pam's eyebrows shot up and her brain was sent whirring. Why was she so happy to see Eric? Pam knew that they had been spending a lot of time together over the past four months since she had turned up here. What was so important that it had been kept from her, the closest person to Eric?

Eric's head turned to Aurora's direction and a smile tugged at his lips. He rose from the throne and made his way from the stage, but Pam leapt in front of him, silently pleading with her beloved maker.

'Eric. Why is she here again?'

'We need to talk,' he answered her shortly.

'No, no. You've said that every night for four damn months. Don't give me the same excuse. Why is she so important?'

Eric could not take it any more and blurted out the words before he could even think about the consequences. 'She is my sister.'

Pam froze to the spot and looked back and forth between Aurora and Eric, hardly able to believe this. She shook her head and her hands balled into fists; she nearly stamped her foot, she was in such a rage.

'That's not possible,' she whined. 'Godric only made you. You know that, Eric.'

'Did I?' Eric whispered. 'Because she is as heartbroken and grief-stricken as I am, Pam. She lost Godric too. She only has me left and I have her.'

'You also have me,' Pam said. 'You may have released me decades ago, Eric, but I came back to you out of loyalty. Please ... don't leave me.'

Eric reached for his progeny's hand and kissed her forehead before they made their way through the crowds towards Aurora. She at first smiled at seeing her brother, but the smile faltered upon noticing Pam trailing behind her.

'What in God's name are you doing?' Pam hissed.

'You two are the most important women in my life,' Eric replied. 'It was time you got better acquainted with each other. I don't want you killing each other as soon as my back is turned.'


	9. Chapter 9

Standing in the middle of the two female vampires, Eric was sure that the tension between them could not even be cut with the sharpest of blades. They stared at each other, eyes locked on the other in a battle so intense that Eric could literally feel the heat being radiated from the both of them. Pam glared at Aurora like she was something she had found on the bottom of one of her Louboutins; her mouth was set in a straight line, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Aurora, on the other hand, was much calmer and collected, Eric noted, but he could see the coldness in those golden brown eyes; she stared at Pam the way an adult pities and mocks a reckless and spoilt child, her lips trying not to form a grin in satisfaction. The silence had gone on for long enough in Eric's opinion and as he moved to speak, he felt Pam's iron grip around his forearm tighten even more.

'I believe you two may have gotten off on completely the wrong foot,' he began, but it wasn't long before his progeny interrupted what he was about to say next, daring to come a quarter of an inch closer to Aurora, her words forming an edgy snarl.

'You're damn right. She's on my last nerve now.'

'Don't test me, Pamela,' Aurora snapped back, her eyes flashing with anger. 'I pride myself on my patience, but you _really _are testing it. I would back down if I were you.'

'Cupcake, you look barely old enough to be in this bar. I could throw you out of here with one finger.'

'And what should happen then, Pam, that would be so drastic? You'd probably break a nail.'

'Enough, you two,' Eric said, ending the fierce bickering. The two females fell into stony silence, looking at Eric, their shared connection, their only reason to be civil to each other at all. 'Listen to yourselves. You're behaving like human spawn.'

'Well, one of us sure looks like one,' Pam said snidely.

'Pamela,' Eric barked and she was quiet, albeit smirking with pride at her insult. 'Aurora is family. You will treat her with respect.'

Pam uttered a single expletive and Aurora rolled her eyes at the vampire's coarse language. Eric could not help but mimic his sister's reaction and sighed slightly, turning to Pam as she continued to seethe about Aurora.

'She just waltzes in here, saying 'Hey, baby, guess what? We have the same dead maker' and you fall for her whole charade?'

'It's not a charade, Pam.'

Pam refused to let Aurora's disturbance stop her and she continued without allowing her maker any time to intervene. 'Now, _I'm_ expected to bow down to her like she's some freaking goddess or something? I do that enough for the fairy princess ... '

'Fairy princess?' Aurora repeated and Eric's eyes widened to tell her silently that that conversation should be best served for another time.

'I won't do it, Eric!' Pam fumed. 'You can fuss and flap over her as much as you want, but you've sure as hell got another thing coming if you think you can make me do the same.'

'Technically, as your maker, I can.'

Pam's eyebrows fused together as she glowered fiercely at Eric. 'Oh, no, you don't, you vile Viking.'

'Vile Viking?' Aurora chuckled. 'Is that the best you could come up with?'

Pam made to say something, but Eric spoke quickly, eager to get a word in before his quick-tempered progeny. 'Listen to me now. You are my family. And yes, Pam, I haven't known Aurora for that long, but she is my sister and she deserves more respect than you have shown her.'

'She doesn't deserve respect. She _earns_ it.'

Eric's cold eyes turned to Aurora's and the smirk disappeared from her face because she knew that he was going to speak to her. 'And you, my dear sister, need to get along with my progeny. I have been with Pam for over a hundred years and I believe that I am going to stay that way for a long time. Face it – you're going to have to get along with her.'

Aurora nodded and looked at Pam, trying to restrain several emotions that Eric could not read. She held out her hand tentatively for Pam to take, who instead looked at it like it was a rabid animal.

'Pam ... '

'Eric,' Pam said sharply, her eyes focused on something behind Aurora.

'Pamela,' Eric whispered. 'You're making this harder than it has to be. I'm not asking you for much but – '

'The King is here,' whispered Pam in a single breath.

Eric and Aurora both turned on their heels in a simultaneous movement to see armed guards storming Fangtasia, clad in black and carrying guns. Each human wore the same blank look and their eyes were covered by a mask. As they filed in one by one, the humans – fangbangers and tourists alike – filtered out through the back door as though it was a raid carried out by the police. Soon, only Eric, Pam and Aurora were left there, standing opposite the armed guards.

'Eric, what do we do?' Aurora whispered in a hushed tone.

'Nothing,' he replied. 'Just wait.'

He reached for her hand and squeezed it before a figure emerged from the door and came to stand in the gap between the human guards and the three Fangtasia vampires remaining there. He was dressed in a smart suit and his brown hair was slicked back in a businesslike way that Aurora had seen done more than a thousand times. He calmly strolled into the middle of the bar and stopped, his eyes watching the three vampires eagerly, a smile that Aurora had seen plastered over posters and the television on his white face.

'Good evening,' he said in a Southern twang.

There was a moment of stillness before both Eric and Pam moved their heads in a dignified nod. Aurora's eyebrow raised as she stared at the vampire who watched her as though he was waiting for her own reaction to his glorious presence.

'Just who might you be?' Aurora could not help but ask.

Pam stifled a laugh and Eric hissed her name under his breath. The vampire actually smiled and replied in a polite manner.

'I am Bill Compton. I am the King of Louisiana.'

Aurora respected few vampire kings and queens; she had even outlived a dozen of them. She had once been invited to govern a state or two as queen, but she refused, not wanting the responsibility of the vampires in an entire state. Godric had also been offered states but he had declined because as he once told her, vampires were creatures of independence and they did not much like to be ruled over. He had often said that although he would respect the Authority, he would never truly understand it.

Snapping out of her daydreams, Aurora realised what she had to do and reluctantly she bent down in a formal curtsey, showing this king the respect she had shown several of his predecessors.

'Your Majesty.'

* * *

><p>'So, Eric, has there been any sign of her?' Bill Compton asked the Viking quietly when Pam had left the room to see to the young girl who had refused to acknowledge him earlier. Eric had quickly ordered his progeny to take the girl away but Bill was curious about her. He sensed her age and her connection to Eric astounded him. There was no vampire in the world who would be protected that willingly by Eric Northman, except for Pam obviously. Bill had watched her intently as she listened to Eric and went by herself to the bar and poured herself a scotch. Then, Bill had ordered his guards to leave at Eric's behest before following the one thousand year old Viking into his office. There had been minutes of awkward and tense silence as the two vampires sat there in the small room – Bill trying to find something to say to Eric and Eric trying to find some way to get Bill out of his sight.<p>

'Sign of who?' Eric asked.

Bill's jaw set and his next words were said through gritted teeth. 'You know perfectly well _who_, Eric, so don't pretend you don't have a care at all.'

'Bill, you should know by now, I don't care for humans.'

'Well, luckily for Sookie, she's not human,' Bill said quietly.

Eric snapped his head to Bill, who noted this change of mood in the Viking; he took a few seconds to collect himself before turning to Bill and speaking in the coldest voice he could manage.

'What exactly are you doing here in Fangtasia, your Majesty?'

'Apart from driving out all of your customers?'

'I forgot to say thank you for that,' Eric said, his words soaked in sarcasm. 'Go on, Bill. Enthral me with tales of your efforts to bring Sookie back from wherever the hell she is. Tell me.'

Bill shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked up at Eric, straining to find an answer fast enough. 'I have been looking, Eric. I have been searching – '

'Bill, vampires can track down a human quicker than any other creature on this planet. It wouldn't be too difficult to find this particular one with the most intoxicating blood known to our kind. Yet it has taken you _four months_ to come up with 'I have been looking'.'

'Eric, you forget who you talk to.'

'And _you_ forget how powerful _I_ am,' Eric snapped, his fangs retracting swiftly. 'I am just over a thousand years old, Bill. I could rip out your heart before you even had time to drop fang. I don't need some crown to finish you, Bill Compton.'

At this, Bill's fangs appeared and he stood from his chair, glaring at Eric fiercely. 'I could have you meet the true death for that, Northman.'

'For what? For insulting you? Surely the Authority has more important things to deal with. For example, they still haven't drummed up much support for our kind after Russell Edgington's TV news anchor disaster. And what would become of a vampire who squeals on one of his own kind?'

Bill was silenced and he retracted his fangs before falling back into the chair. Eric triumphantly smirked and his own fangs disappeared. He leaned against the desk, watching Bill trying desperately to think of some way to insult him. Eric snorted. Bill Compton insulting him would be the day that Pam started singing with young children like Maria von Trapp.

'What about that girl?' Bill said suddenly, a glimpse of a smile on his smug face.

Eric's expression soured and his eyes narrowed. He knew that Bill meant Aurora and he was suspicious of his motives for bringing his newly discovered sister into their conversation.

'Who is she, Eric?'

'A friend,' Eric said shortly. 'She's visiting.'

'Last time I heard, Eric Northman does not have friends. And I must remind you that as your King, to lie to me is treason.'

'So to say that that haircut is just _great_ is treason?' Eric said, trying to change the subject from Aurora.

Bill rolled his eyes and looked at Eric, knowing instantly that he had discovered a weak spot, a chink in Eric's armour. 'Tell me who she is, Eric.'

Eric would not give in to this pathetic excuse for a vampire. He folded his arms and focused his glare on some speck of the wall.

'You may think you're protecting her, but, my friend, you are doing the opposite.'

Eric made to move, but Bill was surprisingly fast and opened the door, poking his head out and motioning to three of his guards.

'Bring the girl in.'

Eric froze and moved forward to intercept Bill, but Aurora arrived, flanked by the three human guards. Her face was a mask and her eyes were confused as they flickered over her brother's face, trying to find answers. Eric was rooted to the spot. He had no idea what Bill's next move would be and could only watch as Bill ushered Aurora into the chair and leaned on the desk as Eric had done before. Eric, on the other hand, moved himself closer to Aurora so that he was standing protectively on her side, ready at any time should she need him.

'What is your name, darlin'?' Bill asked in a patronising voice.

One of Aurora's eyebrows shot up at this and Eric could not help but admire her nerve. 'Darling? I haven't been called 'darling' in centuries ... This is ridiculous ... '

'Your _name_.'

'Aurora.'

'And, Aurora, how do you know this vampire? How do you know Eric Northman?'

Aurora turned her head slightly to see Eric and her eyes silently implored him to tell her what to do. Eric gently tilted his head and that was all she needed. She turned back to Bill and said the words simply as if he was ignorant or as Eric thought, just plain stupid.

'He is my brother, my King.'

It seemed that Bill had not been expecting that. He did a double take and looked back and forth between Eric and Aurora. He took a few seconds to fully comprehend her words but he was still having trouble understanding her so Aurora decided to help him out.

'Eric and I share the same maker. I believe you were acquainted with our maker, Godric, were you not, Mr Compton?'

'I ... I was, yes. Only for a short while. Hold on. Eric, you always seemed – '

'Like I was the only progeny?' Eric finished for him. 'I thought I was. It turns out I was.'

Bill nodded and his eyes focused on Aurora. 'Thank you for your honesty, Aurora. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about your brother.'

Aurora was angered by this. 'I think you will find that Eric is honest, sire.'

'Really? Eric wouldn't know honesty if it smacked him in the fangs. I understand that you haven't known him for long, but genuinely, how blind are you to his many, many faults?'

Aurora lunged forward and Eric knew that it was only to intimidate Bill, not to hurt him. However, Bill mistook this and threw her across the room. When she got to her feet in an agile manner, the guards were waiting and pushed her down to her knees, pointing their guns at her head.

'Don't you touch her,' Eric snarled. 'She did not mean to.'

'So she shares her brother's temper,' Bill remarked.

Eric could not look at him. He had eyes only for Aurora who looked at him pleadingly, knowing that a pull of a trigger would bring her the true death. He could not let her die. They had only just been reunited. It would be the cruellest twist of fate to take her from him when they had just begun to care for each other ...

'Your Majesty,' Eric said, begrudgingly. 'Please. Don't harm her.'

Bill looked at Aurora and with a flick of wrists, his guards withdrew their guns and resumed their positions. Within a second, Eric was helping Aurora to her feet and he held her in his arms as she shook. He understood her fear – she had come close to the true death, one that she could never return from. He looked down at her and she smiled amidst a few blood tears.

'Sire, I believe that it is time you leave,' Eric growled, not taking his eyes off her for a single second.

'I agree with you, Sheriff Northman,' Bill said, adjusting his jacket and making his way to the door. 'There's been quite enough ... excitement for one evening.'

Bill's human guards made their way out of the office and Bill went to follow them, but not before Eric grabbed his arm with a free hand not holding Aurora up and threw him a look so angrily that Bill took a step back.

'You'd better start looking for Sookie, otherwise you'll have me to deal with. You may have given up on her, but I haven't. And if you ever, _ever_, threaten _my_ sister again, you won't live to see another evening. Is that clear?'

Bill nodded mutely and disappeared, closing the door of Fangtasia behind him.

'Are you all right?' Eric asked as soon as he heard the slamming of the door. 'Are you hurt?'

'I'm fine,' Aurora said. 'Just a little shaken, that's all.' She wiped away a tear and her lips broke into a smile. 'Well, he certainly is a jackass.'

Eric laughed loudly at this. 'That is the understatement of the century, _älskling._'

Aurora understood the Swedish word for 'darling' and held on to Eric tighter than before. 'How in the name of the gods did he manage to become King?'

'No-one really knows,' Eric admitted. 'But some of my more reliable sources say that Queen Sophie-Anne was murdered as part of a plan to get that buffoon into power.'

'Shame. I liked Sophie-Anne, when she was ... sane.'

Eric chuckled and gazed down at his sister. She kissed him gently on the cheek before making her way out of the office. She halted at the door and turned to face Eric, who was still mystified as to the care he would willingly bestow on his beloved sister from that moment on.

'Thank you for defending me, little brother. I was ... I hate to admit it, but I was frightened back there. I knew that I was only a few seconds away from the true death and I was scared.'

'So was I, sister.'

Aurora went out and walked across the bar. Eric then remembered something and ran after her, stopping her as she was about to open the main door of the bar.

'What do you mean, 'little brother'?'

Aurora grinned. 'I'm twice your age and twice your maturity. It sounds weird, but that's the way it is, Eric. Get used to it.'

**A/N: More flashbacks coming up, including Aurora's first meeting with Maria, the human she lives with. Any questions and suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

Aurora sat at one of the booths in Fangtasia, engrossed in a sketchbook, paying no attention to the ongoing commotion around her. With a glass of Tru Blood and her iPod next to her, Aurora sketched something she had been working on for an hour, carefully marking out edges and smoothing them out with the flesh of her fingertip. She let the music from her iPod run through hundreds of songs from each decade she had lived through; her favourites were from the nineteen twenties and the sixties and when she heard a song from either of those eras, a smile would tug at her red lips and she would hum to herself, her lips occasionally shaping some of the words that she remembered by heart. Every now and again, she looked up to watch her inspiration, her muse and smiled softly as she turned back to her work, shaping and perfecting it.

Suddenly, her music, which had been successful in drowning out the techno atrocity booming out of the speakers in the bar, was switched off by a clumsy human hand. Aurora's head snapped up to see three guys and two girls towering over her, swaying a little from side to side due to their extreme drunkenness. The guys were dressed in what Aurora could only describe as the tackiest clothes she had ever seen – and she had lived through the nineties. The girls' clothes were barely there, clingy fabric that hardly covered anything, and their shoes were the skyscrapers of the high heel world. Aurora did not need her heightened senses to smell the alcohol adhering on their breath and their clothes; her nose crinkled at this and she looked at them with an expression of disgust and contempt. Pam would be proud of that, she thought with a humorous chuckle.

'Can I help you?' she said icily.

'Yeah, you can,' slurred the guy closest to her. He had mid-length brown hair and wore a hideous green shirt, a beer bottle clasped in his right hand. 'You can move out of this booth.'

'I see you were not taught any manners,' Aurora commented. 'Ever heard of a little word called 'please'?'

'Oh, yeah,' one of the girls said in a terrible attempt at a threat. 'Will you _please_ get the hell out of here?'

Aurora rolled her eyes and ignored the drunkards, going back to her drawing. Then, a grubby fist banged the table and her eyes narrowed at it, demanding silently for it to be removed from her.

'What part of that was so hard for you to understand, little girl?' another of the guys sleazily growled into her ear. 'Better you run off home, isn't it?'

'How old are you, anyway?'

'For your information, you sleazy good-for-nothing son of a jackal, my brother owns this bar.'

Their eyes flashed slightly before they started to laugh like ridiculously stupid hyenas. The laughing grew into hysteria and soon, nearly all of them were doubled up. Aurora left them to it and did a double take when she noticed that her drawing wasn't there. She glanced up hurriedly to see the guy in the green shirt holding it in front of her face, waving it at her like the matadors of Spain do to bulls in arenas.

'What's this, hey, little girl? Let's see how quick you are when – '

Aurora had had enough. She reached for him with her hands, but one of his idiotic friends was surprisingly fast and did what she did not expect from an intoxicated human. He smashed a bottle across her arm, scratching it. Aurora hissed and looked down to see deep scratches in her arm. Thankfully, she knew that she would heal soon. Now, she was angry. She saw the one who had hit her and she lunged for his throat, pinning him down on the table. His friends started screaming and yelling at her, but they did nothing to assist their comrade. The clients of the bar, meanwhile, stopped to watch this exchange but were far too interested in whatever mindless activity they were partaking in to watch what was going on.

'Get off him! You're hurting him!'

'What the hell are you doing?'

'What the f– !'

The crude exclamation was cut off as Aurora turned to show them her newly retracted fangs, still with one hand pinning her attacker down. The drunken friends took a step back and were silent. One of the girls then strangely took out their phone, holding it up to face Aurora and a red light indicated that she was recording something.

'Let's see how much we can get for actual footage of a vampire attacking an _innocent_ bystander,' she said.

Her friend agreed, smirking at Aurora. 'I heard ABC's offering fifty grand for a real vampire attack.'

'Fifty grand? I reckon seventy-five should do it nicely.'

Aurora froze and knew that if that happened, she would be in so much trouble with both the American Vampire League and with her brother. After the Edgington fiasco, humans were desperate to gather up evidence to show vampires behind their smiling charade, eager to show the world what these monsters were really like.

Unwillingly and slowly, Aurora's fingers loosened on the guy's neck and he leapt to his feet, gasping and massaging the area where her fingers had squeezed. His friends assisted him and looked at her just as countless humans before them had done – with fear and horror. She closed her eyes and let her fangs which pronounced her a vampire to the rest of the world slowly retreat into her gums.

'Good evening,' said a cold voice behind them. Aurora looked up to see Eric standing behind the humans, his face a calm and unreadable mask.

Each of the humans turned to face him, captivated by his beauty and his deadliness, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He smiled slightly and locked in a gaze with them. Aurora knew this instantly – he was glamouring them. After a few seconds of holding their attention, he began to speak in a low and commanding tone.

'Now, all of you will forget what happened tonight. You came to Fangtasia for an hour or two and went straight home. You will not remember this girl or her actions tonight. Go home and forget about this.'

The humans, entranced and glamoured, obeyed his words and left the bar, silently as if hypnotized. Eric sighed and his eyes followed them out of the door. When it closed after them, he turned to Aurora and his eyes hardened as he approached her.

'What were you thinking, Aurora?'

'I'm sorry,' she mumbled. 'I ... I just snapped.'

'Snapping is not something that should be done in these times. Do you know how closely we are being watched? One false move and everything built since the Great Revelation will be undone.'

'I know. Forgive me, Eric.'

Eric nodded and he took her arm, examining her arm where the shards of the broken bottle had slashed her delicate porcelain skin. 'This looks deep. You need some blood to heal.'

'I'm fine, Eric.'

'Aurora,' he said sternly and she was forced to look at him squarely.

'Eric,' she countered using the same tone.

He rolled his eyes and glanced down at her injuries, which, to his amazement, had already begun healing. The slashed flesh knitted together and the blood that had been shed vanished like evaporating water. After a few seconds of shocked astonishment, there was no sign of a cut, not even a blemish to ruin her creamy skin.

'See?' Aurora said. 'You worry too much. I'm two thousand years old and you still treat me like a child.'

Eric sat down at the booth with her and stared at her, one arm over the edge of the seat. 'You are my sister. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't worry about you?'

Aurora raised an eyebrow. 'Worry about me? Eric, you glamoured five humans – which I could have easily done myself, thank you very much – to stop me from being hurt.'

'Aurora, you looked ready to kill that human. I had to intervene ... for the sake of both of us.'

Aurora heaved a sigh and looked back at her drawing which was nowhere to be seen. No sooner had she started to look for it than she found it in Eric's hands. She made to ask for it back, but she noticed Eric's examination of it. He lightly traced something with the tip of his finger and smiled at it before turning to his sister and placing it on the table.

'It's very good. But then again, it is of me.'

Aurora took it back and looked at it. Indeed, it was a drawing she had done of Eric and she had captured him perfectly. She had expertly shown him in all his power and dominance, his ferocity and his danger; however, she had managed to portray what she and only she saw in him – his vulnerability and his caring side.

'When did you learn to draw like that?'

Aurora shrugged nonchalantly. 'I do not know. I just did.'

'No-one just _does_ something to that standard, Aurora. And also, I can tell when you're lying.'

Aurora put the drawing down and stared at her brother. 'I ... I had a friend. She was good at drawing. Well, 'good' doesn't even begin to describe what she could do. She was so talented, Eric. She could literally pick up a pencil and create a masterpiece in minutes. It was truly inspirational.'

'Was this friend vampire or human?' Eric asked curiously.

'Sadly, human,' Aurora murmured. 'She died about twelve years ago. She was sixteen years old.'

'How did she die?' Eric's tone was soft and thoughtful, taking care with every word he chose.

'She had pancreatic cancer. She was too young ... far too young ... '

'What was her name, Aurora?'

Aurora felt herself welling up with tears, her mind already transported back to that night more than twenty years ago.

'Esperanza.'

* * *

><p>'<em>What news can you give me, Doctor?' Aurora quietly inquired to the man in the white coat, clutching a clipboard. 'My grandmother ... is she going to die?'<em>

_The doctor nodded gravely and offered Aurora a seat in the hospital corridor. He scratched his bald head and sat with her, his eyes filled with sadness and pity for the poor girl. Aurora knew that she had to listen to the doctor, but her attention could not help but be drawn back into the room where Vera was now. The blinds were drawn and she could hear people talking in hushed tones, imperative words and commands that she instantaneously recognized as only used in emergencies. _

'_Your grandmother is a great age, dear.'_

'_She's ninety,' Aurora said. 'Many people live past that. She will. She's strong.'_

'_Her spirit may be, but her body is not. Sweetheart, she's very weak. Her organs are failing. Any minute now, her heart will give up. It just doesn't have the strength.'_

'_But you're not going to let that happen, are you?' Aurora demanded. 'You're gonna help her. You're going to make her better. Please ... '_

'_We'll make her comfortable, but I'm sorry, dear. You have to prepare yourself for the worst.'_

_Aurora nodded and glanced back to the room where her friend lay, dying. She had been with Vera for fifty years and she had cared for her like a sister. Watching her grow old and frail had been hard enough on Aurora, but she knew in her heart that there would come a time when her friend would leave her. She could do nothing to help – she had made a vow to herself not to turn any of her friends because she could not bear to inflict the same pain she was going through onto someone she loved. _

'_You're looking a little pale, dear,' the doctor remarked. 'Have you had any sleep at all?'_

_Aurora had actually just woken at sunset when she discovered Vera unconscious on the kitchen floor, but to keep up appearances, she shook her head silently. _

'_Go and get yourself something to drink. We'll call you if we have any change.'_

_The doctor then entered the room and shut the door. Aurora was alone – just what she hated. She wrapped the cardigan around her tighter and set off down the corridor. She spied a phone and thought for a few seconds about calling her maker. She had been within only a week ago and although they had agreed when to see each other next, she still felt so far away from him. She needed someone here, someone to hold her as she mourned, to stroke her hair and tell her that everything would be all right. More specifically, she needed her Godric here with her._

'_You look lost,' said a voice from inside one of the rooms directly opposite Aurora. She was startled at first, but she approached the room, the door slightly open and entered it._

_Upon entering the small room, she found a teenage girl sitting in the bed, hooked up to countless wires and machines. She was a beautiful girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen, with long jet-black hair and eyes the colour of fresh almonds. Her olive skin made the hospital gown she wore look like a garment in a fashion show and Aurora could faintly see a bright shade of pink on her nails. On her lap was a sketchbook and all types of drawing pencils surrounded it. The girl looked up at Aurora with curiosity and friendliness. _

'_So, are you?' she asked plainly in an accent that was clearly American but there was something underlying in her pronunciation, a slight accentuation to some of her syllables. _

'_Am I what?'_

_The girl rolled her almond coloured eyes. 'Are you lost?'_

_Aurora nodded hesitantly, not knowing quite what to make of this girl. 'Yes, I am.'_

'_I've never been lost here. I know this place like the back of my hand.'_

_Aurora smiled plainly and waited until the girl had thought of another conversation starter._

'_Why are you in here?' the girl enquired. 'Cause I can see for a fact you're not sick. You're far too pretty to be even remotely sick.'_

'_Thank you. I'm visiting. My grandmother's ... here.'_

_The girl tutted slightly, knowing that she had reached a touchy subject with her new acquaintance and gestured to the chair with one of her hands, the one that was attached to a drip. _

'_Please sit down.'_

'_I'd love to, but I have to wait for her.'_

'_They're not gonna be done anytime soon, you know. You might as well stay here and keep me company.'_

_Aurora could not help but smile at the young girl and did as she requested, taking the armchair beside the bed. The girl watched her carefully and beamed as she sat down. _

'_So, stranger, what's your name?' _

'_It's Aurora.'_

'_Aurora,' the girl said. 'It's a nice name. A bit long. Do you have a nickname?'_

'_A what?'_

'_A nickname. You may be pretty but you're a bit slow.'_

_It was now Aurora's turn to roll her eyes exaggeratedly. 'I've never had one. It's just ... Aurora.'_

'_Right. Well, I'll be the first to give you one.' The girl thought long about the moniker to bestow on Aurora and when she discovered it, she snapped her fingers. 'Rora.'_

_Aurora cringed at this, but she knew that this name would stick with this girl. 'Rora, it is then.'_

_The girl grinned. 'I'm Esperanza, by the way.'_

'_Now _that's _a pretty name,' Aurora said._

'_You think so? Mine's so long and half my friends can barely say it, let alone spell it.' She inclined her head towards a pile of cards, some made and some bought, announcing their best wishes and for Esperanza to get well soon. 'The cards are from them. These stupid doctors took the chocolate they sent. Apparently, it's bad for me. I've definitely read somewhere that chocolate is good for you.'_

'_I wouldn't know,' Aurora admitted. 'I've never had any.'_

_Esperanza's eyes bulged and she looked as though she was going to start hyperventilating. 'Never? Chocolate? _Dios mio ... _You haven't lived, my friend.'_

'_Oh, I've lived all right,' Aurora chuckled._

'_Esperanza?' said a voice from the doorway. A woman stood there, the older version of Esperanza with her hair and her eyes. She held a cup of coffee and a piece of paper in the other. She stared at her daughter and then at Aurora, who immediately leapt up out of the chair. _

'_Mama, this is my friend, Rora.'_

'_Rora?' Esperanza's mother repeated. _

'_It's Aurora, ma'am,' she said. 'Pleased to meet you.'_

'_You're a very polite young lady,' the woman remarked and smiled. 'I am Maria and I'm Esperanza's mother. Are you visiting or are you ... ?'_

'_Visiting, I'm afraid. My guardian is ... She's ... '_

_The words were difficult for Aurora to produce, but thankfully, the woman, Maria, understood perfectly what she was trying to say and how hard it was for her to say it. _

'_I'm sorry, dear,' she apologized and looked at her daughter. 'They're going to have to run more tests, _mi querida.'

_Esperanza groaned. 'Again? Haven't they done enough tests?'_

'_They want to help you get better. This is all necessary.'_

_Esperanza threw Aurora a weak smile as she made her way to the door. 'I'll see you around. You'll come and visit me, won't you?'_

_Aurora nodded sincerely. 'Of course I will.'_

'_Thank you for staying with her,' Maria said quietly. 'I've been here since this morning and I just – '_

'_You shouldn't worry yourself. It was no trouble. You have a wonderful daughter.'_

_Both Maria and Esperanza smiled as Aurora left the room, but the happiness and light that filled the vampire were short-lived as a doctor approached her, a different one to the other one from before but wearing an identical look of sadness and sympathy. He informed Aurora that Vera had passed away only minutes ago. Whilst Aurora thought over his words, he told her that Vera had left her a note, feebly pushing it into this doctor's hand as she slipped away. He handed it to her and stalked off somewhere. What his destination was, Aurora did not care. She was so overcome with emotion in that moment that she barely had the energy to stand. Finding a room so she could cry and not be interrupted, she fell to the floor in a heap. She had not been with her friend when she had departed this life for the next life and Aurora knew that she would regret that for as long as she lived. However, as she sat there, her heart breaking over the loss of a dear friend, she remembered the note and with shaky hands, trembling from head to foot, she opened it. Each word was written messily but with care and thoughtfulness._

**My dear Aurora,**

**If you are reading this, then my life here with you has come to an end. And what a happy life it has been. It began with such promise and then tragedy struck at the point in my life when I believed that happiness did truly exist. I lost my daughter, my beautiful Edith, only fourteen. I lost myself then. I blamed myself. Then, I met you. **

**You changed everything about me. You made me see the good in myself that I believed was lost forever. You helped me discover a meaning to life I believed was gone. **

**When I discovered what you were, I was scared of you, I admit, but then I saw the goodness in you and knew that you were not like the ones I had heard of. You became the daughter I always wanted. I grew to care for you and love you. I can only hope that you did the same for me.**

**Unlike you, my immortal child, my time on this earth is only temporary. I knew that this day would come soon so I kept this note on my person at all times and that way, you would surely find it. I wanted to live this life as a human and have the human experience that you wished me to have. You, my daughter, have made that human life filled with laughter, love and happiness. I wish to thank you.**

**I'll be watching you always. **

**Vera.**

_Aurora clasped the note to her heart, which now ached more than ever. Wiping the blood tears from her face, she opened the door to find a familiar person standing there. Having felt her pain, her maker had travelled all the way here to comfort her and be there for her._

'_I'm here, my Aurora,' Godric whispered and she fell into his arms, resuming her sobbing. He lifted her up and kissed her forehead, wiping away fresh tears as they sprang to the eyes he loved. He hated this, what she was putting herself through. She was involving with humans and their lives, knowing that they cannot stay with her forever as he could yet she did it because she cared too much. She loved so easily._

'_My Aurora,' he mused. 'Always too caring for a vampire.'_

**A/N: There will be more about Esperanza in the next chapter as well as the return of Sookie and the events of Season Four. Suggestions and reviews would be amazing - thank you very much for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

Four months later ...

It was a quiet night at the bar and Pam observed her dominion in cruel satisfaction. Most of the customers, intoxicated and still laughing manically, had staggered out of the bar over an hour ago and now only she remained, hands on hips, surveying Fangtasia, her own personal kingdom. Ginger, the deluded human employee of the bar, emerged from the ladies' room and was now earning her keep by cleaning up spilled vodka shots at the bar, humming a tune to herself. Pam rolled her eyes and shook her head, chuckling darkly to herself. That one had been glamoured one time too many.

Ginger, humming another tune, piled the empty glasses onto a tray and made to leave, but her clumsiness had been intensified by a few free bottles of beer during the night and her high heels were just a hazard waiting to happen. She tripped, too dramatically in Pam's opinion, and the vodka glasses flew high into the air. Pam knew that this little incident would come out of Ginger's pay check and lazily cast her eyes over the scene, expecting to hear the chinking sound of breaking glass. To her confusion, no such sound was heard. When she concentrated, she saw Aurora standing next to the wobbly Ginger, holding all seven shot glasses in both of her hands. Pam's expression soured as she saw her hand them to Ginger who ran her hands through her hair, having witnessed the vampire move at the blink of an eye.

'Thank you, sweetie,' she said, smiling weakly, rearranging the shot glasses again. 'These darn shoes ... '

'Don't worry, it's fine. Besides, those shoes are gorgeous, if a little higher than I should think necessary.'

Ginger laughed giddily and resumed her journey. Aurora smiled after her and noticed Pam staring at her coldly. Within a second, she was standing in front of her brother's child, mirroring her stance with her hands on her hips. Pam's eyes narrowed even further as she stared a few inches down at Aurora.

'What do you want, cupcake?'

'Just being a helping hand, buttercup,' Aurora replied as if butter would not melt in her mouth.

'You're hanging around here too often for my liking.'

'I like this place,' Aurora said simply, scanning around Fangtasia as if to prove her point. 'It's exciting and dangerous and ... '

'Totally not your scene. You've never been somewhere like here, have you? That's why you're here all the time, like some crazy adrenaline junkie.'

'Believe it or not, Pam, but I've been in clubs and bars before. In every decade. In every century. It's surprising how easy human minds become putty in my hands.'

Pam's eyes widened and she hated to confess it to herself, but she was mildly impressed. Granted, she didn't like the girl very much, but Eric seemed determined for them to play nice and be family. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all.

'Speak of the devil,' she murmured to himself as Eric entered through the front door of the bar, a smile on his face and a spring in his step. This was unusual for her maker and Pam's eyebrows rose correspondingly with her curiosity. 'Eric? Why are you so ... smiley?'

'Why, Pamela,' he said. 'Can't I be satisfied once in a while?'

'No, Eric,' Aurora said. 'For once, I agree with Pam. Honestly, you look a bit deranged.'

'Deranged?' Eric repeated. 'That's a bit strong.'

Pam glanced at Aurora and hinted at a grin. 'My ... _aunt_ is right.'

'Don't call me that, Pam. It makes me sound so _old_.'

'Well, last time I checked, you were,' Pam said cattily.

'Enough, the both of you,' Eric said, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. 'Pam, can I talk to you privately please?'

Aurora nodded and went to the bar, her eyes never leaving Pam and Eric. Eric raised his eyebrows at her and she stuck her tongue at him childishly. Eric repressed a chuckle and she settled down to pouring herself a glass of scotch, making sure to do as her brother said and not listen to the conversation between maker and child.

'_I thought you two were making progress,_' Eric said in his native tongue of Swedish to his progeny, who was wearing a haughty look that he was all too familiar with. '_I thought you were beginning to accept her._'

'_Eric,_' Pam deadpanned in a flat tone. '_Face up to it. She's not my family. She's never going to be my family. _You _are my only family and some spoilt little child is not going to change that.'_

'_Probably not,_' a new voice said in perfectly articulate Swedish.

Aurora stood there, empty glass in hand, watching them bitterly. Slowly and still trying to process what was going on, both Eric and Pam turned around to stare at her, eyes widened and mouths slightly open in shock.

'_I am trying so hard to be accepted here,_' she said in the language Eric had spoken as a human. Had he known better, he would have thought that she was Swedish herself. '_Eric has welcomed me with open arms and I love him for that. But you ... You have done nothing but put me down and degrade me. Well, I'm sorry if I'm part of the family, truly I am. But we are related by blood and that is something you are just going to have to deal with. And, Pamela, the next time you're trying to talk to Eric about me behind my back, be sure to use a language Godric did not teach me._'

Then, an infuriated Aurora left the bar at a speed only a vampire could muster. Eric sighed and stared at his progeny who looked after the Roman vampire with a different expression on her pale face.

'I guess you'd better go after her,' she murmured and stalked off, leaving her maker alone to contemplate his next move.

* * *

><p>To his slight amazement, it took Eric only a few seconds to leave the bar and discover the whereabouts of his fuming sister. He stood outside his establishment and looked around him, his senses keen and on alert. He smelt fresh paint which he soon found came from the messages left by anti-vampire protestors on the outside walls of Fangtasia. Eric smirked – these ridiculous humans actually thought that they were being brave, brawling 'DIE, FANGERS!' on the wall the way a rebellious teenager does. However, Eric knew that the support of this opposition against his kind would be growing, festering in towns and cities all over the world. He admitted that he probably should have seen it coming; he knew deep down that vampires would have only a few years after the Great Revelation until they became a minority, harassed and downtrodden by the humans that would think of them only as monsters and never as equals. Russell Edgington had been idiotic and insane to do what he had done and had destroyed the relationship that vampires were trying to build with humans, but Eric knew that it would have come sooner rather than later. Remembering what Edgington had done to him whilst he had been human – scarcely older than Aurora had been – Eric's hands curled into fists and he took grim delight in cursing the vampire, now wrapped in silver chains and imprisoned under layers of solid concrete.<p>

Eric's finely tuned hearing then picked up the dulcet sound of Aurora's voice; although, the normally beautiful tone was now a snarl as she spat out words in a language that Eric knew hardly anything of. No, not words, he corrected himself. These strange sounds were curses. Eric could only hazard a guess as to the translation of the words, but he somewhat feared for them to be directed at him if he made the mistake of asking.

Eric hovered a few feet off the ground for a second or two before he lifted himself gracefully into the air. Once at the level of the roof, he eyed a sitting figure and descended, his feet touching the metal of the roof with a soft thud.

Having heard this clearly as a bell from a few feet away, Aurora ceased her cursing as her head snapped up and her body stiffened, preparing for the mysterious intruder.

'Relax,' Eric said, holding up his hands, palms facing her. 'It's just me.'

Aurora calmed down and she stared at her brother with burning curiosity, but she did not say a word. Taking this silence as a good sign, Eric sauntered over and sat himself down next to her, their shoulders just touching. His blue eyes found her brown ones and she inclined his head onto his shoulder; he was a little startled by this at first, but he rested his head on hers gently as they both watched the dark night they had roamed for thousands of years.

'Can I ask you something?' he murmured then, his voice soft as it always was when in conversation with his sister.

'Of course. Anything.'

Eric grinned. 'I'll take the 'anything' part into consideration, shall I? So, what are you doing up here?'

'That's it?' Aurora said, bringing her head up to show him her raised eyebrows and amused expression. 'That's your big question?'

'You did say I could ask you anything,' he pointed out. 'I want to know what you're doing up here on the roof of my bar.'

'Isn't that just a little obvious?' she sighed. 'I'm up here because I can't stand to be in there.'

'Look, Aurora, Pam is going to take some time to come round – '

'Some time?' she echoed. 'Eric, are you blind? She despises me.'

'She doesn't _despise_ you,' Eric countered. 'She just ... hasn't quite warmed up to you yet.'

'Brother, the only time Pam will finally warm up to me will be when I'm burning on a bonfire.'

Eric chuckled darkly. 'You and Pam are family. You're _my _family. You are both so important to me. You have no idea how precious you both are to me.'

'That's sweet of you to say that, little brother,' Aurora said, ruffling his hair. 'But face the facts. Pam is jealous.'

Eric's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 'Jealous?'

'Yes, you know. The emotion where humans supposedly turn green and believe that there is a little monster on their back.'

'I know what it means,' tutted. 'But why would my progeny be jealous?'

Aurora heaved a sigh and turned to face him, her eyes round and boring into his. 'Eric, think about it. Nearly every single night for the last year, I have been here with you. I have had your undivided attention, which you have given me so easily. Now, Pam has been with you for how long?'

'Just shy of a century and a half.'

'Exactly. You're her maker. You are all she has ever known. And I'm guessing for that century and a half, you have treated her like a vampire goddess, showering her with gifts and being her father, brother and friend as Godric was to you.'

Eric nodded and she swiftly continued, pained considerably at the mention of her lost love.

'She's angered by my constant presence here. You can see that she does not like me. Well, she doesn't like the time I'm spending with you.'

Eric gathered all of what she said together and came up with, 'She's pissed at me for spending so much time with you.'

Aurora nodded and her eyes switched back to the night sky, knowing every star by heart. She had seen them all and more than once, she thought that when she finally decided to end her immortal life, she would love to join them – to become a star and live in the heavens peacefully for all eternity ...

'Don't worry,' Eric's voice broke her dreamy haze and she returned back to him in the present. 'I think that she's starting to simmer down. She knows how close I am to you.'

'She knows you so well, Eric.'

Eric shrugged. 'She is my child. There is not a secret in me that I have not shared with her.'

'Secrets do not stay well with us vampires, I find. Secrets lead to lies and lies lead to feelings of resentment. And when you live forever, it is hard to shake those feelings.'

Eric smiled and wrapped his arm around Aurora, bringing her closer to him until her head was resting on his chest. He kissed her head and ran his fingers through her hair absentmindedly.

'You didn't finish your story,' he murmured.

'Which one? I've lived for two thousand years and seen nearly all the world. You're going to have to be more specific.'

'The one about the human who could draw. Esperanza.'

Eric felt Aurora's frame become rigid and she murmured something under her breath.

'You didn't finish it. You didn't tell me what happened to her.'

'You know what happened to her,' she whispered in a cold, unfeeling voice that Eric knew was just like his own. 'It's the same thing that happens to every human eventually.'

'Maybe this will help you. Talking about it. You cared for her.'

'She was my friend. She was ... amazing.'

'Well,' Eric said, rubbing her cheek with the flesh of his thumb, 'tell me how amazing she was.'

* * *

><p>'<em>How's that?' Aurora said, anxiously showing Esperanza her latest attempt. <em>

_They had been sitting in Esperanza's hotel room for three hours and during that time, Esperanza had decided to draw Aurora. She was an extremely talented artist and Aurora had barely time to get comfortable when she had finished. It was a beautiful sketch of Aurora, perfectly shaded and shaped. It had captured her youthful innocence yet it showed her devilish grin. After seeing what her friend had produced, Aurora had quietly asked for her instruction. Aurora had always yearned to be able to draw, but she believed that she did not have the skill necessary. She had seen masters of art paint and sketch for centuries and had admired them from a distance, hoping that one day in the eternity that she would live, she would learn to replicate their skills._

'_Not bad, not bad,' Esperanza said. 'Although, I do have one teeny, tiny criticism.'_

'_Here we go ... ' Aurora chuckled._

_Esperanza rolled her eyes. 'I said 'one'. And it's nothing major, I swear. It's just your shading. You're pressing down on the pencil too hard. Your lines are too thick – '_

'_You said 'one'!' Aurora giggled and pushed Esperanza playfully before the conversation dissolved into peals of laughter, which continued for several minutes until the girls found themselves brushing off tears of mirth. Soon the room was silent and they sat there, still smiling to themselves._

'_So, how've you been keeping since they ... ?' _

_Aurora couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence and closed her eyes. Esperanza sighed and started fiddling with a loose thread in her hospital gown._

'_Since they told me about my cancer?' she finished bitterly. _

_Aurora nodded and looked back at her friend sadly. 'I'm sorry I brought it up, Esperanza. I just – '_

'_It's fine, honestly. It's better I start talking about it 'cause soon ... '_

_She stopped and shut her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. Aurora reached for her hand and gripped it tightly in hers. She could feel her friend's pain, both emotionally and physically and she truly hated seeing her like this. She knew that she could do something but the consequences of doing what she knew only she could do were too severe to even comprehend._

'_I just ... ' Esperanza murmured, tears coming thick and fast now. 'I thought ... I would have a life, you know? I'd go to art school and graduate with some kind of fancy degree. I'd get an inner city apartment in New York, one with a massive studio where I'd paint and draw on massive canvas and make as much mess as I like. Then, I'd ... I'd find a guy and fall in love. I'd have kids and they'd have kids. I'd have a good life and die an old lady in my bed, surrounded by my kids and my grandkids, even my great-grandkids. Not like this ... barely sixteen, my body decaying from the inside out, hooked up to hospital machines, before I've even had a chance to see the world, to live my life ...'_

_Aurora sat there and listened to her friend, knowing that she was right. In a few months, even weeks, her already ailing body would give up its fight for life and she would fall into a deep, dark slumber from which she would never awaken. Aurora looked down at her pale wrists and traced the veins up to her elbow. Her blood was the best medicine that Aurora knew and could cure any ailment. A few mouthfuls of her blood would completely rid Esperanza of the cancer growing inside her. She would be healthy and happy. She would have that life she so desperately craved. She would do all the things she planned to do. She would have a future. However, Aurora knew that in order to do this, she had to reveal what she really was and she could tell that Esperanza may not be as accepting as some people had in the past. She could not bear to lose the only friend she had left. She deliberated on this as Esperanza's eyes closed and she fell asleep, deciding that she would heal her in the next week or so and tell her what she really was. As she left the hospital room that night, she watched her sleeping friend and vowed to make sure that Esperanza got that life she dreamed of. After all, she deserved it. _


	12. Chapter 12

Aurora was not a particularly vain person and she had long held the view that beauty came from within and it was only true in the eye of the beholder. However, staring at the clear reflection in the long golden-framed mirror, she came to see that she was indeed beautiful. Having been told that for most of her life, she had had reason to believe otherwise and that it was in her nature as a vampire to be good-looking. It was a predator quality and the vampires had used their victim's fascination and awe of their feature to their advantage. Aurora had been called stunning and striking a thousand times over, mostly by her love, but she never really believed these flattering comments to be truthful. Now, she could fully understand why. As she made clear to herself, she was not vain; she had just been shown her own reflection in an entirely different light.

The girl in the mirror blinked as she did when she stared, her mouth slightly open and her eyes rounded. She was wearing one of her favourite garments – a strapless black dress that fell to just past her knees with a white bow across the middle. Her accessories consisted of a simple diamond pendant, Cassius' bracelet a ring given to her by her Godric many centuries ago. Her hair had been straightened with flat irons and was now shimmering, almost like a chestnut curtain. Her eyes were lightly lined with silver, bringing out the gold even more. Her lips were a rose red and those lips broke into a smile as she looked at herself one final time, checking for anything to add or improve. No, there was nothing. It was perfect in every way.

'_Mi querida_,' Maria's voice sang from downstairs, '_tu hermano está aquí_.'

Aurora's smile widened even further and she left the room in a daze, anxiously and excitedly impatient to see Eric. She graced the stairs and stopped as Eric came into view. He wore his usual black outfit, which consisted of the black T-shirt, leather jacket and pants that Aurora knew so well. His hands were behind his back for some reason or another; Aurora could not figure out why, despite how hard she tried. However, he wore a bright smile, which grew even brighter when he glimpsed Aurora at the top of the stairs.

'Wow,' he murmured. 'You look beautiful.'

If Aurora could have done so, the first thing she would have done is blush furiously at his flattery. She grinned and made her way down the stairs to meet her brother. Maria entered the scene next, mug of coffee in hand, watching the exchange with eager eyes. The human noted to herself that she had never seen her adopted daughter so happy in all the years she had known her and she recognized that Eric was the only cause in this sudden happiness.

'Thank you,' Aurora said. 'My, my, Eric. Turning up at my door to take me out. This is quite a step.'

'Be grateful,' he chuckled. 'I don't usually do this for just _anybody_.'

Aurora laughed and Eric took this opportunity to bring his hand round from behind his back. Clasped in it was a bouquet of red roses which he promptly gave to Aurora. Rendered speechless by this act of pure endearment, Aurora took them and inhaled the scent deeply, a thousand memories resurfacing from this one sense. She held them to her chest and sighed, not caring how ridiculous she may have looked doing this. She gazed at Eric, thanking Godric once again for choosing him to become a vampire and making him a caring and loyal brother.

'How did you know about – ?'

'The roses?' Eric finished her question for her. 'Aurora, I can honestly say that I am shocked at your lack of knowledge in me. Well, other than the fact that they are currently surrounding your house, I happen to know that roses have been sort of – and I hate to use this colloquial phrase – your_ thing _for a good few centuries.'

'Millennia,' Maria corrected him and he nodded graciously at her for her input.

'So, then, Mr Northman, whereabouts are you taking me tonight?' Aurora teased, handing the roses to Maria with great care. 'A debonair restaurant? A stroll in a country park at twilight?'

'You make it sound like the eighteen hundreds,' Eric snorted.

'Hey, I liked that century!' Aurora cried out light-heartedly. 'No, seriously, Eric. Where are you taking me?'

Eric kissed his sister's forehead and stroked her hair. 'Tut, tut, _sötnos_. You will have to be patient.'

'Eric, I'm not one for surprise.'

Eric grinned. 'You are for tonight, little sister.'

Aurora giggled and turned to Maria, who smiled sweetly at her. Aurora hugged her surrogate mother tightly and felt her warms arm envelope around her lovingly.

'Have a good night, _mi hija_,' she whispered in her ear.

'I will,' Aurora said. 'And I won't be too late, I promise.'

'But _I _can't promise that, I'm afraid, ma'am,' said Eric with an even bigger grin.

Aurora was released from Maria's hold and she rolled her eyes dramatically at her brother's humorous comment. Eric then offered his arm in a gentlemanly way and Aurora took it, smiling up at him. Together, they left the house and strolled out into the night. They were both met by a beautiful and sleek black car that Aurora distinguished easily and without even a second's thought.

'Is that ... what I think it is?' she said, almost breathlessly, pointing to the gleaming car.

Eric laughed under his breath and ran his hand across one of the shining black doors to prove it was real and not just in her imagination. 'Yes, this is what you think it is.'

'No,' she said.

'Yes,' Eric countered.

'This is getting rather sinister, Eric,' Aurora said, approaching the car as though it was a king. 'The roses, I can understand. It's rather easy to work out if you watch me and have been with me for a lengthy amount of time. But please answer me this – how on _earth_ did you know that my favourite car is the Rolls-Royce Phantom?'

Aurora's fingertips lightly brushed the exterior of the car as she spoke and she felt the coldness of the metal. She had often wished for one of her own yet she had found that she did not really need to use a car. To travel to places, she would mostly fly there, using her supernatural speed. Now, she was in the middle of wondering why she had not purchased a car years ago.

'It's a funny story, actually.'

'_Eric _... '

'All right, all right,' he backed down and looked at her square in the eyes, his blue orbs locked on her golden brown ones. 'I found it out.'

'All by yourself? Or did you get one of your minions to assist?'

'No, I didn't, believe it or not. I remembered you telling me that the twenties were your favourite decade and I didn't have to do any research at all to know that the first Rolls-Royce Phantom was made in – '

'1925,' Aurora murmured as she remembered the year herself as though it was only yesterday.

Eric bowed his head in a nod. 'Yes, 1925 indeed. I also recalled that a certain maker of ours took a great liking to this vehicle and – '

'He bought one for me,' she murmured and Eric stopped speaking as he found himself completely immersed in her words of long ago. 'When the Rolls came out, I told Godric how much I liked it and he bought me one the next week. Early birthday present, he said. That was Godric's way of saying that he hadn't seen me in a while.'

'Why not?'

'He spent most of the time with you and a couple of nights a month, he would ... he'd come and see me. We'd have the night to ourselves and then ... he would leave again.'

Eric and Aurora spent the next few seconds in silence as they contemplated her words. Godric had been a father to Eric and a lover to Aurora, but why had he not thought to bring together the siblings, the progenies he had made? Was it because he made a promise to Aurora that Eric would never meet her? Or was it for some other reason?

'Come now,' Aurora said, lifting the spirits with a effortless smile. 'Let's not dwell on the past. At this rate, it will be dawn soon and you'll not have taken me to ... '

She waited and looked at Eric as though he was going to go straight in and tell her where he was taking her. Eric shook his head and opened the door, sliding into the car with the poise and style that could only be achieved by a vampire.

'No. You're getting it out of me that easy, sister.'

Aurora huffed jokingly and sat in the car, brushing out the material of her dress as she did so that it would not crease. When the door was closed, Eric started the engine, which purred like a cat stretching out in front of a fireplace. With one quick glance at Aurora's gleeful face, Eric urged the car forwards and they drove off, silently and almost invisibly, into the night.

**A/N: Sorry it's only a short chapter, guys. I've been so busy with homework and essays and useless stuff. I'd LOVE to hear your ideas about where Eric should take Aurora on this little night out. Thank you!**


	13. Chapter 13

'Here we go,' Eric's soft voice murmured as the car lazily purred again, slowing down in speed.

Aurora was at this moment instantly captivated by the beautiful house directly in front of her. They were on a gravel path driving up to a large mansion set in magnificent woodland. The night seemed a perfect background for this place which was a pale shade of light brown, the stars lightly resting against the house. The roof was a grey and the many windows dotted here and there were illuminated by bright lights from within. The house seemed to extend lengthways and Aurora knew that it was positioned on a good few acres of land, green grass and giant oak trees that seemed to stretch out as far as her vampire eyes could see. Her eyes widened as she glimpsed it, her mouth dropping open slightly in amazement. She had seen castles and palaces in nearly every country in the world, many even grander and with more splendour than this, but this house had to be her favourite of them all and this was partly because of who actually owned this glorious property.

Aurora failed to notice that the car had slowed down to a spot, a few yards away from the actual house itself and it was only when Eric opened the door for her to get out that she actually made to move. Taking Eric's outstretched hand, she got out of the car and her eyes never left the mansion. Eric shut the door and offered her his arm, which naturally she took. Together, they walked towards it at a steady and deliberate pace that some vampires would consider to be humanlike. However, Eric and Aurora were in no rush at all. They were immortals; they had all the time in the world.

'Is this yours?' she said in barely a whisper.

'Yes. It's grand, yes, but it's not gaudy or tacky like some places I could mention.'

'It's beautiful, Eric,' she told him honestly. 'It really is. But I don't understand. Why do you have this?'

'You think Fangtasia's where I live?' he said and at her shrug, he snorted, his lips breaking into an effortless smile. 'God, no. I stay there when I have to, but _this_ is where I spend my nights, in comfort and luxury.'

'I can imagine,' Aurora said.

Eric released her hand from his arm as they approached the large black double doors at the front of the house. With both hands on the surface of the glass panels of the ornately-decorated doors, he pushed and turned back to retrieve his sister, bringing her into the hallway, her amazement mounting still.

The hall consisted of two spiralling staircases that greeted each other at the top, painted an earthly brown. The floor was tiled and the centrepiece was a beautiful mosaic piece that Aurora saw instantly, bringing her back to the days of her youth and her own house back in Rome. The ceiling was higher than she expected and the walls were a luscious cream. There were no useless furniture or ornaments that cluttered the space of the hallway. Candles burned here and there, wafting scents throughout the room.

'They're Pam's,' Eric said, noticing Aurora's fascination with the delight smelling incense. 'She hates leaving the spa so she brings half of it here when she returns.'

'Pam lives here too?'

'Of course. She has an apartment here and there, but this is her home and it will be for as long as she wants.'

Aurora nodded and was swiftly led by Eric into a room that was primarily the contrasting and complimenting colours of black and white. Aurora sat herself down on a white chaise long whilst Eric busied himself with pouring a red liquid from an antique decanter into two glasses. Aurora looked around her, marvelled by the elegance of it. She had to admit it – Eric had great taste. Nothing was out of place, too cluttered, too messy. Everything was refined and had a purpose for being where it was. The colours flattered each other and their surroundings and Aurora could see clearly elements from every decade scattered around the room and the adjacent hallway. It was just like Eric – calm and collect but with a slight undertone of danger and mystery.

'Here you go,' Eric said, handing her a glass of blood.

Aurora stared at it for a moment and Eric's hand drew back slightly, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'Don't you ... ?'

'I haven't drunk real blood in a while,' she confessed, staring at the blood. 'I don't really need to.'

'Godric didn't need to either,' he said quietly.

'It keeps up my strength and helps me to stay alive. Or whatever we are. But I get the sustenance I need from a bottle of Tru Blood.'

Eric grinned. 'They should put you as their advocate for that ridiculous stuff. With that smile, their sales would be through the roof.'

At this, Aurora could not help but grin at her brother before taking control and holding her hand out for the glass. Slowly and cautiously, watching her every minute move, Eric handed it to her and set himself down opposite her. Aurora threw a look at him before she sipped the blood delicately. Her eyes closed for a second and her senses revelled in the sensation of its life force running down her throat. When she looked back at Eric, it appeared that he had not moved an inch, observing her with careful eyes.

'It's been a long time,' she whispered, more to herself than to him.

'I can see that,' he murmured softly. 'Why don't you drink human blood? Is it because ... ?'

Aurora took a moment to gather her thoughts before she answered his question. 'I have lived on it for so long, Eric. Decade after decade, I lived by feeding from innocent humans, draining them of their blood. For centuries, I believed that was what I was meant to do, what I had to do as a vampire. But now that there is an alternative ... I wouldn't go back to that.'

'Won't that affect it?' Eric said, gesturing to the glass clasped in her hand.

Aurora shook her head. 'I do not mean to brag, but I have good self-control, something that you can only master once you are _my_ age.'

Eric nodded, contemplating this. 'You don't want to be a monster.'

'A bit late for that, Eric, don't you think?' she said, almost bitterly.

'What do you mean by that?'

'Eric, we _are_ monsters. Our whole existence is based on coming back after death to survive on the blood of the living. We are nothing but monstrous.'

'You're not,' he said quietly. 'There could be nothing monstrous about you, Aurora.'

Aurora, touched by this rare show of affection, reached out with her free hand to lay it across her brother's hand. Eric looked down at her lovingly and covered her hand with his other one, his thumb brushing against the skin of her hand caringly.

'Thank you, _bror._'

She smiled up at him and Eric decided then and there that her smile was one of the most precious things he had ever seen. It was a beauty to behold and the beautiful immortal could be no more perfect in his eyes.

'Godric said that to me once before,' she mused, her eyes far away and so distant that he thought that he did not have a hope of reaching her. 'Actually, he told me that so many times. I kept doubting my humanity. I kept thinking it wasn't there, that it had been taken away from me when I was turned. But then it hit me ... '

'What?'

'He was strong and loving and good for me. He pulled me through all of those times and we made each other strong and good again. He was always there for me. I guess that in a way ... Godric was my humanity.'

* * *

><p>Aurora drew a deep breath and walked a few more steps. She had been carrying Godric for a long time and although she would never admit this to him for fear of him trying to walk by himself, she was weakened and in need of rest. She shook her head fiercely at these thoughts which she knew would lead to her giving up. If she gave up, then Godric would not be looked at. If she gave up, Godric would surely die.<p>

'Are you all right?' he enquired in her ear softly.

'I am fine,' she said, trying to restrain the pain in her voice.

'I could walk by myself,' he offered.

'Not in your current state, Godric. You need to see a physician.'

'What I need is to go back to the slaves and look after my brother. He needs me.'

'And _you _need a physician,' she said firmly, but her tone softened with her next words. 'Godric, if you allow me to help you, then I shall help your brother.'

Godric's eyes flashed to hers in shock and wonder. 'You will?'

Aurora nodded. 'I give you my word that I will do all in my power to help him. What is his name?'

'Sweyn,' he answered in a fond tone. 'His name is Sweyn.'

Aurora smiled earnestly at him, encouraging him those last few steps until they had crossed the threshold of Aurora's home. As Aurora's father was one of the most powerful and wealthiest men in Rome, his home could only be the best for his family. It was a single storey home and as Godric discovered, it was built around an atrium with a large trough inside. She was particularly quiet around one room in particular that they passed and Godric guessed that to be the room of her father. He glanced at the open roof which displayed the starry night sky before he was taken by Aurora into a room. The walls were pastel coloured and Godric's bare feet felt the smooth surfaces of mosaic patterns on the floor.

'Lie down,' instructed Aurora as they approached a reclining couch.

Godric did as she said and lay down on the couch, wincing at the pain once or twice. This did not go unnoticed by Aurora who glanced around at him from where she was standing, keeping an eye on the door.

'If someone discovers I am here – '

'They will not,' she said firmly. 'And besides, you are under _my _protection. No one will harm you.'

'But your father ... ' he muttered. 'Your father has to be informed of my presence here.'

Aurora thought on this, but was struck dumb by her contradicting thoughts. Her father could use a servant, of that she was certain, but she knew that he would not listen to her at this time of night. There was only one person in the world who held sway over their father and who had the ability to persuade him to take in Godric ...

Aurora turned to Godric and implored him, 'Stay here and be as quiet as you can.'

'Where are you going?' he asked her.

'To find someone who will help us,' she murmured and exited the room in an instant.

She soon found herself in the second open courtyard of the house, the peristylum. It contained a flourishing garden, the hortus, which had been filled with Aurora's favourite flowers and herbs; the setting seemed even more beautiful in the dim night air. Aurora waited there for a moment before a servant, a young girl no older than eighteen, walked past with a basket of fresh apples. Aurora approached her and the girl stopped, frozen on the spot as her mistress made her way towards her.

'Do you know where Master Cassius is?' Aurora asked.

'Master Cassius?' the girl squeaked. 'I believe he is sleeping. It is a big day tomorrow, Miss.'

'Yes, it is,' Aurora murmured as her answer and thanked the girl quickly before rushing off to awake her sleeping brother.

Aurora soon silently entered the cubliculum, the bedroom that belonged to her twin. With bated breath, she stood at the door way where she could see Cassius' slumbering figure clearly on the long bed, his form moving only slightly with his sleeping breaths. She stepped lightly and made her way to his side, placing her hands on his shoulders.

'Cassius,' she whispered. 'Cassius, wake up. You need to wake up.'

Slowly and surely, Cassius' eyes opened sleepily and widened as he caught sight of his sister. He was a strapping young man of sixteen with tanned skin and the exact colour hair as Aurora, slightly curled in an almost innocent and childlike way. His eyes were the fiercest of blue, icy and capable of enrapturing anyone in their gaze. This was a complete contrast to Aurora's earthly golden eyes and many had likened this to the seasons of autumn and winter. Aurora was warm and gentle like the season that brought about the most change whereas when it suited him, Cassius could be cold and severe like the winter's frost.

'Aurora?' he mumbled. 'Is it dawn? Am I late for the wedding?'

'No, brother. Tis not yet dawn.'

Cassius groaned and turned so that his back faced his sister. 'Well, then, come back when it is.'

Aurora shoved her brother as hard as she could and he sat up with a start, now wide and awake, glaring at her as though she was half-mad.

'What is it that you want, Aurora?' he asked her irritably.

'I need your help,' she murmured softly and his face relaxed into that of understanding. He understood when she needed him most and it was his duty to assist his beloved sister wherever he could.

Cassius ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, his eyes imploring his sister to go on. 'What is wrong, Aurora?'

Aurora fiddled with a stray thread on the sheet covering Cassius and refused to look him in the eye. Cassius, impatient to hear his sister's tale, reached out and clasped his hand over hers. Her head snapped up and their eyes locked in a gaze that could only be shared by two people as close as they were.

'Aurora,' he said softly. 'Please ... Tell me.'

Aurora shook her head. 'It's hard for me to find the words, brother. I cannot tell you ... but I can show you.'

Utterly perplexed, Cassius nodded and gestured to Aurora to wait at the door for him. As she did so, he rose from his bed and put on a loose toga to cover himself. He then followed Aurora to a room he believed to be empty, used for nothing except when occasional guests came to stay or as a place both he and his sister frequented when they desired privacy to talk. She entered the room first and went straight to the couch, kneeling at its head, blocking Cassius' view of the person lying there. He moved forward cautiously and saw a young man of his and Aurora's age with brown hair and chiselled features. He was obviously in pain and Aurora placed her hand on his forehead soothingly in order to calm him.

'Who is this?' Cassius asked and his sister turned to face him, her eyes sympathetic.

'His name is Godric.'

'What is he doing here?'

'I brought him here.'

'Aurora!' he groaned. 'You cannot just go around, bringing strangers home.'

'You should not speak to her like that,' Godric quickly defended Aurora and Cassius was slightly taken aback by this, watching pain flash across the boy's face as he continued. 'She saved my life. Without her, I would have surely died tonight.'

'Is this true, sister?'

Aurora nodded and looked at her brother, her eyes rounded and her voice clear as crystal. 'I found Godric beaten half to death in a temple.'

'Then, the gods should have saved him ... '

Aurora ignored Cassius' comment and continued. 'I could not let him die there. I prayed to Juno Sospita and knew that I had to save him, that I had found him for a reason.'

Cassius nodded curtly and looked at Godric. It was then that he noticed the red brand on his upper shoulder, the brand that labelled him as a slave for the rest of his years.

'Does he have a master?'

'No,' Godric answered for himself.

'I said that we would take him in,' Aurora said. 'Cassius, I have a feeling about this. I feel that the gods have sent him to me for a reason. I just know it, Cassius.'

'Aurora, we cannot just take him in. What would Father say?'

'That is the reason why you are here, brother. I need you to convince Father to hire him.'

'Why me?'

'Cassius, you are his son and his heir. If he is going to listen to anyone, it will be you and no-one else.'

Cassius thought this over and sighed heavily as though this task was unbearable for him. 'All right. I will do as you ask. I will talk to Father.'

Aurora's lips broke into a beaming smile and she turned to Godric, who in turn managed to grin at her apparent happiness. He thought to himself that he really had been sent to her. She was a vision and the gods she talked of had obviously sent a goddess down to protect him. Maybe she would be the answer he was looking for. She could be the reason he was still alive. He found himself falling for her even faster now.


	14. Chapter 14

Aurora had never been more proud of her sister as she had at the moment she glimpsed her standing there next to her new husband, exchanging their vows as man and wife. Lucretia looked simply beautiful in her wedding gown, her long hair plaited into an intricate style and behind a veil made of a garland of brightly coloured flowers. Fabricius, Lucretia's new husband, looked dashing in a plain toga and Aurora noted that upon glimpsing his bride, his eyes sparkled and the smile on his tanned face only seemed to widen. Aurora knew that he loved her and would take care of her for as long as he lived. Lucretia would be happy and that was what really mattered to Aurora.

The day had begun with a procession to the home that Lucretia would share with her new husband. Aurora watched eagerly, walking with her father and several cousins, as Lucretia led the party of people, hands gripped round a torch she had lit from the hearth of her family home. When they arrived at the house, she was then offered another torch and water and was carried elegantly over the threshold by her attendants.

'Doesn't she look beautiful?' Aurora's aunt, Julia, remarked as they entered the house after the bride.

Julia was the sister of Aurora's father and was Aurora's closest female relative besides Lucretia; she was also her chaperone, accompanying her wherever she went. She had thick blonde hair that reached her elbows and a youthful face that age had not yet touched; her eyes were brightly coloured and looked lovingly at her niece. Aurora smiled at her aunt and glanced back at her sister who had now met her groom with a bright smile.

'She does,' Aurora sighed and Julia wrapped her arm in hers as they walked together.

'Your sister looks so happy, little one,' she went on, watching her elder niece with affectionate and warm eyes. 'I think that this will be the making of our Lucretia.'

'How do you mean, ,my dear aunt?'

'She now has a new husband and a new home. Soon, she will become a mother. Her life has changed completely now.' Julia sighed and kissed her niece's forehead, stroking her cheek and scanning her face. 'I see so much of your mother in you.'

Aurora's eyes rounded at this and could only listen with lifted spirits as her aunt continued, her voice years away and filled with an warmth Aurora had never heard before.

'You and your mother are not only physically alike, my darling. You have that same fiery passion I saw in her. I cannot wait to see how your life will turn out, young one.'

'Why?' Aurora asked curiously.

'You are your mother's daughter, child. Any life you choose to lead will be passionate and thrilling, a life filled with laughter and with love. I can see that already ... '

* * *

><p>Godric sat there by the fountain of the Soranus home, the moon hanging high over the sky and turning his pale skin a silver tone. His fingers lightly dipped the water to cause a rippling effect which he watched with a slight feeling of fascination. All was calm and quiet in the house tonight. The family had gone to the wedding of the eldest daughter, Miss Lucretia and many of the servants had been left behind to finish chores and duties before they returned. Godric, having finished all of his chores, waited anxiously for the arrival of the family. Well, he corrected himself, just one member of that family, to be exact.<p>

Smiling to himself, Godric then thought back to the girl clouding up his thoughts. He recalled the day when she had saved his life before he could be beaten to death; without her intervention, he surely would have died there and then. His thoughts ran away with him and he imagined a future that concerned both him and Aurora. In his years as a slave, Godric had imagined what it would be like to be a free man and many of his fellow slaves had often expressed their views on the subject. Some knew that they would never be free, but their dreams and imagination comforted them with the possibility of freedom so they clung to that with every ounce of their being. Most wanted things like land and a home; some wanted a family and their children not to share their fate as a slave for the rest of their lives. Godric had never really wished for anything for himself should he ever be free; for many years, his main goal had been getting both Sweyn and himself through each day. Now, he thought of a future where he was the owner of a small house somewhere in the countryside, far away from slavery and the stresses of city life. There he would spend his days in the company of the girl who had been his saviour and perhaps they would raise a family of loved and happy children. He envisioned himself there, hand in hand with Aurora and leaning forward so that their lips were just within touching distance ...

Suddenly, Godric's ears pricked up at the sound of heavy footfalls and he leapt to his feet, alert to attend on the returned family. The master of the house, Lucius, arrived first, his face ruddy from a little too much wine at the wedding. His servants bustled around him before moving past Godric to guide him safely to his bedchamber. Then the young master, Cassius, followed and noticed Godric standing by the fountain, making his way over to him. When his own servants hurried after him, he waved them away with his hand.

'How now, Godric,' he greeted him.

Godric dipped his head respectfully. 'I am well, Master Cassius. The wedding was enjoyable, I presume?'

Cassius grinned. 'Of course. The party tomorrow shall be even more enjoyable, I believe. It already seems quieter without Lucretia here.'

'It must seem so, sir.'

Cassius took a look around him before leaning closer and whispering in his ear. 'Your brother is safe.'

Godric stiffened and listened more intently as he thought of the last remaining member of his family, the brother he cherished and protected for so long.

'Lucretia and Fabricius have taken him in to their household. Lucretia has promised me that she will look after him to the best of her abilities.'

'Thank you, sir,' Godric said, unable to fully express his feelings of gratitude.

'You shouldn't be thanking me,' Cassius said, now moving towards his bedchamber, grinning at Godric. 'Thank my sister. She is the one who has arranged all of this. She is too compassionate for this world ... '

Godric nodded and smiled at the young man as he disappeared into his rooms. He then glanced back where he glimpsed the beautiful Aurora making her way inside the house, her own flock of servants busying themselves behind her. She looked stunning in her gown with flowers fixed in her hair and her eyes sparkling like liquid gold. He remarked to himself that he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all his life. He would gladly gaze at her all day long if he could and be a content man in doing so. Her eyes caught his and she walked towards him, smiling. However, the dress she was wearing was too long in the front and she tripped up on the material. Godric rushed to her and expertly caught her before she could touch the floor. With his arms wrapped around her, he was merely inches away from her, feeling her smooth skin and almost close to hearing her heartbeat grow in volume. She blushed furiously and stared into his eyes. It was as if they were the only two people left in the entire world. Godric liked that idea.

'Mistress!' the servants cried, almost in unison, rushing towards her like a stampede.

Godric released her and she stood there, just gazing at him as though he mystified her. Her servants surrounded her in an instant and took her to her rooms, but not before she sent Godric a look that signified that the moment shared between them was something both of them had never experienced before. It was magical and surreal. Somewhere deep inside both Godric and Aurora, they knew that they were connected. Their bonds, it seemed, had already begun to strengthen.


	15. Chapter 15

It was like she had just dropped out of the sky. It was as though she had crash-landed back on the earth she had somehow left behind. The moment that her body collided with the ground, Eric jolted in his sleep, his eyes opening instantly. His senses took a little while to readjust, but he knew instantly what had happened. He lay there, smiling to himself, knowing that he had been right all along. So many had been quick to give up on her, to assume the worst and carry on with their pathetic little lives, but not him. Eric Northman had searched for her the world over, trying every source and method he could to find her. For a while now after he discovered that she was nowhere to be found, he had firmly believed that the earth had simply swallowed her up, leaving no trace whatsoever of the human he ... How could he phrase this? He knew he didn't exactly – dare he say it – _love _her. True, she fascinated him in ways he could barely comprehend and she had made him question many things about the world he saw and the feelings he had managed to bury deep inside of him. Eric could only assume that he _cared _for her, but not in the fatherly manner as he cared for Pam and certainly not the brotherly care that he showed Aurora. It was different and this kind of different terrified him.

Not caring that it was the middle of the day, he rose from his coffin and with a spring in his step, he made his way into the living room of his home. The windows were bolted shut, blackened out by thick sheets of metal to protect the vulnerable vampires who slept there from the sun's deadly rays. However, a few spots always managed to seep in, bathing tiny parts of the room in the sickly golden light that Eric had grown to hate as a vampire. Eric usually ignored these miniscule annoyances, making a mental note to make sure that they would be covered up, but now, filled with a curiosity he had only experienced a few times in his immortal years, he dared to edge closer to the beams of light and stretched out his long pale fingers towards them, stopping only millimetres away from the lethal light. He had been even closer to the actual sun, he remembered with recollections of the searing pain. A few times as a vampire, mostly when he had been a young immortal, he had been caught in the sun, having stayed out far too late and ignored Godric's warnings about the dawn, but he had never been as badly burned as he had been last year. It had been for an honourable cause and Eric would have been happy to die there if it meant bringing an end to the tyrannical life of Russell Edgington. If it hadn't been for a certain someone's blood, he would have surely died. However, due to his late maker's intervention, Edgington had been allowed to live only to be encased in concrete on Eric's orders. Good riddance.

'What are you doing?'

Eric's head snapped to the side to see his faithful progeny watching him, eagle-eyed, a bottle of Tru Blood clasped in her manicured hand. The expression on her face was somewhere between concern and puzzlement. He looked from her to the rays of light and back to Pam, who gazed at him as though he was about to do something ridiculous.

'Eric.'

Eric's eyes closed at the mention of his name and he glanced up to his progeny, who now felt the time best to approach her maker, albeit slowly and cautiously. She had learned over the many, many years that they had been together as maker and child that things which were too abrupt and rushed had a habit of making Eric angry and agitated. She rested a hand on his forearm, a gentle side to the sarcastic and devious Pam that no-one else, aside from Eric, was allowed to see.

'Is everything okay?' she asked in a hushed tone.

He nodded a little too fast and smiled at her reassuringly. 'Yes, my dear. Everything is fine.'

'Really?' she said, one eyebrow arched. 'What were you doing just now?'

'Thinking, Pam. It's a process I don't expect you to understand.'

Pam winced at this and Eric kissed her forehead, stroking her cheek – his own sentimental way of making amends to his child.

'Forgive me. That was uncalled for.'

'I should have thought of that comeback a long time ago,' she laughed off his apology. 'So what has you up this early, master?'

Eric smiled coyly and poured himself a glass of scotch from the antique decanter on the table. 'Oh, you know me, Pam. I have things to do, businesses to run, people to see ... '

'Eric, you hate people.'

'That may be true, but I am anxious to see one person in particular ... '

It took Pam a few minutes to collect her thoughts and hazard a guess as to who her maker was cryptically speaking of. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows crashed together in a frown and her eyes narrowed as she glared at Eric, an answer at the front of her mind and now on the tip of her tongue.

'It's not Aurora again, is it? Because frankly, you see enough of her as it is.'

Eric rolled his eyes and shook his head at his child. 'No, Pamela. Not this time, although you know how elated I am to see my sister.'

'Yeah, I kinda figured that out for myself.'

'Guess again.'

Once more, Pam's face was contorted in confusion and after thinking for all of ten seconds, she groaned and her eyes pleaded Eric for the answer. Eric could only chuckle to himself and leave her to her guessing. By the time she had finally got the answer, Eric was sitting down with a refilled glass of scotch, watching his progeny in mild amusement.

'Oh, God, no.'

Eric grinned and leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees, his eyes widening as he watched Pam's expression twist from confusion to frustration to anger in a matter of seconds.

'It's not ... '

'She's back.'

'So,' Pam said through gritted teeth. 'The vanishing fairy princess returneth. How do you know?'

'How do you think, Pam?'

'Your bond with her? How long has that lasted?'

'Long enough,' he answered shortly and stood. 'Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go see her.'

Pam stood in her maker's way, folding her arms across her chest and shooting him a look. He sighed and placed the glass he was holding on a nearby table before mirroring his child exactly.

'What is it, Pam? You have that look.'

'What look?'

'The one which I know means you're dying to say anything. So out with it.'

Pam huffed and stared at her maker, who knew her far too well. 'You may be my maker and a thousand years old, but your memory is about as good as a goldfish. Eric, do you not remember what happened the last time you saw Sookie?'

'She got rid of that idiotic boyfriend of hers.'

'That and she threw you out. She didn't want to speak to you again. What are you planning to say to her tonight? Go on, Eric.'

Eric hadn't thought of any of this. Most of the time, he went with events, making up his every move and every word as he went along. But now, he was lost for words. He didn't know what to tell Sookie. He could tell her that she now lived in the house he owned, but that would be a bad conversation starter. He could tell her what he felt ... No. That would make him all brooding and annoying like a certain Compton imbecile.

'Eric, you're drifting again. What will you tell, Sookie?'

'I don't know, Pam,' he answered truthfully. 'I just don't know.'

He manoeuvred past her and stopped at the door, turning on his heel. Pam stood there, as helpless as a human child, her eyes watching the man who was everything to her.

'What is it, Pam?' he murmured.

'I'm worried about you, Eric. I just ... I want you to be careful.'

'I will be,' he promised her. 'You should not worry, dear. It does those frown lines no good at all.'

'What frown lines?' Pam cried as Eric left the house, laughing under his breath, ready as he could ever be to face Miss Sookie Stackhouse and her abnormal fairy wrath.

* * *

><p>'<em>Gaudeamus igitir, iuvenes dum sumus. Post iucundam iuventutem. Post molestam senectutem. Nos habebit humus ...<em> '

Aurora's voice lilted lightly on the air, her spirits lifted as she sang the words of her old tongue, the language of her human life. She had left her home early tonight, eager to see Eric and spend yet another night in the company of her treasured brother. She made her way up the driveway of Eric's house, dressed in a long ruffled top in a vibrant shade of emerald green and black leggings, topped off with high heels that she was particularly fond of. Her hair fell in loose curls around her and at her wrist as always was her bracelet. She fingered it anxiously as she knocked at the door and waited for Eric to open it.

However, instead of her brother standing there once the door had finally opened, it was Pam. Needless to say, Aurora's spirits were significantly dampened as she eyed her brother's progeny who looked at her as though she was something she had removed from the sole of her pink Chanel pump.

'Why, it's you,' Pam said in a voice coated in thick sarcasm.

'Always nice to see you too, Pam. Where's Eric?'

'Oh, he didn't tell you?' Pam said as Aurora all but pushed past her in order to get into the house.

'Tell me what?' Aurora murmured coldly.

Pam shut the door with a loud bang and placed both her hands on her hips, glaring at Aurora with a look of utter haughty derision.

'Eric has gone to visit ... how shall I put this in a way that might get through to you? He's gone to see his _favourite_.'

Aurora's expression soured even further and her eyes narrowed at the insubordinate vampire standing there as bold as brass. It took a few minutes for Aurora to regain her senses before turning away from a smirking Pam to enter the living room, her eyes focused on some random object in front of her and her teeth gritted in irritation.

'I'm in no mood for your games tonight, Pam, so stop being obscure and tell me where my brother is.'

'My, my. Quite the little temper tantrum we seem to be having.'

'Pam,' Aurora said curtly, her fangs emerging instantly in a moment of fleeting anger.

'All right, all right,' Pam huffed and landed on the chaise long in an elegant manner. 'Eric has gone to see Sookie.'

Aurora retracted her fangs and stared at Pam in confusion. 'Who, pray tell, is Sookie?'

'Sookie is ... Sookie's like virus that just can't seem to be got rid of. She is the bane of the vampire world yet she is intoxicating to the senses. _All_ of the senses.'

'I'm guessing you and this Sookie aren't making friendship bracelets in your spare time.'

'Clever little girl. Eric is fascinated with this little human.'

'But Eric doesn't like humans.'

'She's not entirely human. She can read thoughts and for some reason, her blood can make you walk in the sunlight.'

Aurora's eyes widened at this. 'She's ... a _fairy_?'

'Well, she's part fairy. You say that like you know about fairies ... '

'Pamela, I've been on this earth for two thousand years. Of course I've met fairies. I've even been friends with a few of them.'

'What are they like?' Pam asked, intrigued.

'You said it yourself. They're fascinating. But fragile, easily broken ... '

There was silence for a few minutes, a tense awkward silence that was felt by both Aurora and Pam. They shared eye contact for the first time since they had met and it was not in competition for Eric's attention or to spite the other. Both eyes were fixed on each other in a mark of understanding. This was the beginning of something, a point between the two of them. They knew that they would never really be friends, but it was a start.

'I must be going,' Aurora said finally, walking towards the door. 'Maria will be waiting for me. Tell Eric I stopped by.'

'It might slip my mind,' Pam said, 'but I'll try.'

Aurora smiled and turned to the door, opening it and stepping out into the night.

'Wait!' Pam's voice called her back into the house. She turned on her heel and saw Pam waiting there, staring at her with ... pity and sadness, expressions and emotions Aurora had never believed could ever be etched on this particular immortal's porcelain face.

'Sookie ... I have to tell you something about her, something I think you need to know.'

'Yes, Pam?'

'She was with him,' she murmured.

'With who?' Aurora asked already knowing by the way that Pam's voice was hushed who the mystery 'him' was.

'Sookie was with Godric when he ... when he met the sun.'

Aurora took this information in. She had always believed that her beloved had died alone on that rooftop in Dallas; it had been one of the reasons that she had been so reluctant to leave him when she had found him there, only minutes before Eric had. She didn't want him to die alone. She didn't want him to die. When they had talked of forever, Aurora had believed that those words had been sincere. However, forever had been enough for Godric and she respected his decision to leave this world, even though she hated it as it parted them. Knowing that this Sookie, whoever she was, stayed with him whilst he died was somewhat comforting to Aurora whose heart ached yet again from thinking of her one true love. She then made a promise to make it up to this Sookie when she could for what she had done for Godric.

'Thank you, Pam,' Aurora said sincerely, tears filling her eyes, fleeing before Pam could see her shed one single tear.

* * *

><p>'Maria, I'm home,' Aurora called out as she entered the little house, her voice slightly hoarse from the hundreds of tears that had fallen on her journey here. She shut the door and saw the human woman approach her, wearing a sundress and bare feet. She tried to smile but Maria knew her adopted daughter too well and saw the tear tracks caked onto her porcelain cheeks.<p>

'Aurora, come here,' Maria said, opening her arms which Aurora gladly rushed into.

She was enveloped into a warm embrace as she let the tears and the heartbreaking sadness overcome her once more. Maria said nothing and just held her in her arms, not caring if the tears stained her clothes or how long they would stay there. All that mattered was Aurora and that she get rid of this overwhelming grief. Despite this desperate hope she clung to, Maria knew deep inside her soul that Aurora would never be rid of the grief and that her heart would be pained by the loss of Godric. Maria had only met Godric a few times, but she knew how much he loved Aurora and vice versa. To separate the two of them had been horrific and had terrible repercussions in Aurora, who somehow still believed that a fraction of the blame for Godric's suicide lay with her. No matter how much Maria protested against this, Aurora continued to believe a small part of it.

Aurora looked up at Maria, her sobbing done for now. 'Thank you, _mi madre_.'

'Are you all right now, my darling?' Maria said, holding her at arms' length to take a good look at her. 'You don't need anything or – ?'

'No, no,' she said. 'I'm fine now. It was just ... Godric was brought back up and ... I just ... '

'I know how hard it is for you, sweetheart. He meant so much to you.'

'More than you could ever imagine ... '

Maria went to say something else but there was a furious pounding at the door that almost sounded like an angry fist. Maria's eyebrows arched at the pounding and she made her way quickly to answer the door. Aurora went to sit on the step in the middle of the staircase, waiting for the person to be gone so she could talk properly with Maria. She was in full view of the door as it opened to reveal several people, all dressed in black, and carrying the same expression of fear and apprehension. That wasn't all they were carrying.

They had guns, knifes and ... stakes.

'That's the fanger!' one yelled.

'She's got a little girl with her!'

'Oh Lord, she's going to feed on that kid!'

'_Shoot_ her!'

Aurora rushed forward but she was too late. A gunshot rang out as one of the men at the very front – a man who looked no older than twenty five – mercilessly aimed a gun at a spot directly above Maria's heart and fired, the shot ringing in the air as the bullet zoomed forwards and entered its target. Blood sickeningly spurted everywhere and Maria, clutching aimlessly at her chest, fell back onto the floor, landing on the cold hard floor with a thud.

Then, all that filled the air were Aurora's pained screams.


	16. Chapter 16

'_Aurora ... Rora, wake up ... Rora ... '_

_Aurora's eyes fluttered open with the grace of the wings of a butterfly. Bright lights unleashed their glory and she blinked a few times before glimpsing the owner of the voice. She smiled as she saw Esperanza leaning towards her, a grin tugging at her lips. Aurora's eyes opened fully and they glimpsed the hospital room and the bed her friend as usual was lying on. Aurora could not help but wince at the girl sitting up and this was solely because of how pained and ill she looked. Esperanza's tanned skin was almost yellow and lacked the lustre it had a few months ago when Aurora had first met her. Her eyes, almond-shaped and black, were dull and hardly had the energy to stay open to look at her friend. Her wrists and arms were thin and the veins, blue against her nearly pale skin, were more prominent than ever. Aurora gazed at the girl, knowing that she only had weeks left of life before she ... No, she could not think of that now. Death was supposed to be a subject that vampires took lightly; they understood death because they were creatures born out of death and they took lives wherever they went, thinking nothing more about it than survival. Now, here Aurora was, a vampire for over a thousand years, saddened at a human's death. Maybe this was her curse. She would live forever when those she cared for departed this life. _

'_How long was I out?' Aurora enquired, eager to take her mind off the morbid topic. _

'_About twenty minutes, I think,' Esperanza said in the tired and hoarse voice that Aurora was not accustomed to yet. 'I was describing my day and you kind of closed your eyes and you were away before I got past ten o'clock.'_

'_I'm sorry, Esp.'_

'_It's fine, really,' she chuckled. 'My day was pretty boring. Hey, did you know that when you sleep, you look like you don't actually breathe?'_

_Aurora laughed off her acute observation. 'It's another weird thing about me.'_

'_Adding to the list again?'_

_The girls' laughter filled the room and soon, all was quiet. Esperanza gestured to Aurora to sit with her and Aurora was only too happy to oblige, sitting on the bed, a hand placed comforting upon her friend's. Esperanza waited for a few seconds before her eyes locked with Aurora's and she leaned forward, her voice barely a whisper as she uttered five little words that would twist Aurora's still heart and send her into a panicked state she had never imagined herself to be in._

'_I know what you are.'_

_Aurora froze and withdrew her hand, keeping eye contact with the human girl at all times. She was completely caught off guard with this rather blunt statement and stared at Esperanza, not entirely sure of what answer she would give to that. Esperanza's face was an emotionless mask, giving no clue to Aurora as to what she could be thinking._

'_Aurora,' she whispered, not a hint of fear or accusation in her voice, the tones Aurora had heard so many times before. 'Did I hear me?'_

'_Yes.' She barely had the will to even whisper the word to answer her._

_Esperanza's lips moved a millimetre to make an almost smile. 'Aurora, I know what you are.'_

'_And what is that?' she asked, not wanting to delay it any longer._

'_You are ... You're a vampire,' Esperanza murmured. 'Aren't you?' _

_Aurora now had a choice to make, a choice she never thought she would have to make with Esperanza in mind. She had to choose whether Esperanza kept this secret or not. She could opt to simply glamour her into forgetting about it, erasing every trace of the word 'vampire' that was somehow connected to herself in her mind. Aurora quickly removed that option, knowing deep inside her that she could not do that to such a loyal friend. Her only option was to allow Esperanza to know what she was and hopefully she would be accepted as she was, as a vampire. It all depended on how capable the human girl was at taking in all this information, having so many things about her friend that she had thought she had known to change instantly._

'_I am,' Aurora confessed, finally free to admit the age-old secret to Esperanza. _

_Absorbing this, Esperanza leaned back and closed her eyes for a few seconds as though allowing her to concentrate properly. When her eyes fluttered open faintly, she slowly held out her wrist to Aurora without shaking or even blinking. She truly was a fearless human. _

'_What are you doing?' Aurora had to ask._

'_You're a vampire, aren't you? I just thought ... '_

'_You thought what, Esperanza?'_

_Esperanza's eyes flashed to Aurora's in alarm, noting the coldness in her voice. 'You ... would want to drink my blood.'_

_Aurora's eyes narrowed and her fists clenched as she glared at the insane human; there was now no part of Aurora that was even remotely human and she was now the predatory, cold creature she had kept locked inside of her for years. _

'_Why would I drink your blood?' she said icily. 'You're my friend. I would never do that.'_

'_Really?' Esperanza squeaked._

_Aurora chuckled darkly and some of her charade humanity was restored as she calmed herself down. 'Your faith in me is astonishing, Esperanza. You think because I'm a vampire, blood is all I want? That blood is all I care for?'_

'_I don't know,' she murmured. 'I've never met a vampire before ... '_

'_Oh, I think you have, at some point in your life. You just haven't realised it.' Aurora took a few seconds in preparation before asking her next question. 'How did you know what I was?' _

'_Just little things. You're never here in the daytime. You hardly eat anything, even when I offer you some of my food. Granted, hospital food is not exactly from The Ritz, but I've never seen you anything. And once or twice, I've seen you cry – '_

'_Crying does not exactly prove I'm a – '_

'_They weren't real tears though, Rora. They were ... blood. Blood tears.'_

_Aurora was silenced and she held her head in her hands. She had been discovered and now she feared for what Esperanza was about to say, fearing the very words that would either save or destroy their friendship._

'_I thought that it was weird, the blood tears thing. So I did a little research. It turns out that only one creature is known to do that ... '_

_Then, as if right on cue, tears of blood trickled down Aurora's cheeks, staining the porcelain flesh and dripping down onto her alabaster hands. She could neither stop them nor prevent them and before long, Esperanza noticed, pulling Aurora's hair back so that she could see the proof for herself. Aurora looked away from her friend, ashamed of what she was and unwilling to let the girl see her for what she really was._

'_Don't,' she warned her, turning her head away and hurriedly wiping away the fresh tears falling from her eyes. _

'_Aurora – '_

'_I don't want you to see me like this!' she snapped, turning her head back to face her, no caring what she looked like. At that moment, for the first time in their friendship, she wanted Esperanza to be frightened of her, to look upon her with nothing but fear. She grabbed the human girl's wrist sharply and her eyes bored into the scared ones across from her. 'I never wanted you to see me this way. I never wanted to hurt you.'_

'_What did you want then?'_

'_To go on pretending that I was human. I have no humanity, Esperanza. I am hollow. I am evil.'_

_Esperanza wrapped her thin arms around her friend, resting her head on Aurora's shoulder as the two friends cried together, the blood tears mixing with the watery ones. The two friends held each other as though it was the end of the world; to Aurora, it felt exactly like that. _

'_You could never be evil, Aurora. It doesn't matter to me. You're my friend, my best friend. Which is why ... I need you to do something for me.'_

_She released Aurora and leaned back onto the pillows of the hospital bed, watching with thoughtful eyes and an expression that Aurora could not read no matter how hard she tried._

'_When I was researching those blood tears,' Esperanza murmured, 'I saw something that said that vampires are immortal. You can't believe everything you read so I'm going to ask you ... are vampires immortal? Can they live forever?'_

_Aurora nodded mutely and Esperanza swiftly continued, her hands fiddling with a loose thread on the hospital sheets._

'_I know I don't have long to live. Weeks at the most. I'm not ... I'm not scared of dying, Aurora. Well, truth be told, I'm actually terrified, but not of death itself. I'm terrified for my mother.'_

'_Your mother?'_

_A new tear fell onto Esperanza's hands as she stared tearfully at Aurora. 'Yes. It has always been just me and my mother. My dad left when I was a baby and good riddance. We have no other family. It's always been me and my mom. Together, just the two of us. And when I ... when I die ... '_

'_Esperanza, please – '_

'_Listen to me,' she said, her voice pleading and desperate. 'When I die, she's going to be all alone. I don't want that, Aurora. I can't just leave her all by herself.'_

'_What do you want me to do?' Aurora murmured, half-knowing what her friend was going to ask of her._

'_Aurora, you are an immortal teenager. You can look after her, take care of her – '_

'_No, I can't,' Aurora replied in a broken and hollow voice. 'It will be like ... I'm replacing you.'_

'_No, it won't,' she countered. 'You can be the daughter that never grows up, never dies. You can always be there for her, make sure she's okay. Aurora, I'm begging you, as a last request ... '_

_Aurora mulled over the words in her head. This act of taking care of Maria would be for Esperanza; it would be in honour of her and in her memory. Aurora made a solemn promise to herself and to Esperanza that not a day would go by without some reminder of her somewhere. Aurora knew that she could save Esperanza but she realised that she would have to make her best friend, this lively and vivacious girl, into a bloodthirsty killer. Aurora did not have the heart to even think of it. She also did not want to give her blood because it would have its own dangerous repercussions. Esperanza had made her peace with life and even though she did not wish to die, she knew that there was no preventing it. She had lived her life and now she was going to be at peace._

_Then, Aurora slowly took Esperanza's hand and nodded softly, agreeing to the request set by her dying friend. Esperanza attempted a smile, but the tears fell thick and fast then before she could stop them. _

* * *

><p>Aurora had never felt so numb, so detached from everything and everyone. She did not know entirely what she was doing; she only knew that her muscles and limbs suddenly had minds of their own when she lunged forward and pulled Maria into her arms. Her head rested in the crook of Aurora's elbow and her eyes rested on Aurora's, the light in them disappearing second by second. Aurora looked down at the gunshot wound and the blood that was gushing from it; it was severe and within minutes, the human Aurora had grown to love as a mother would be gone, yet another victim to the prejudice against the vampires she was kind towards.<p>

Aurora cared not for the humans, the assassins, who stood around, watching the scene with wary expressions. Some mumbled to each other that vampires did not die this way before describing graphically how the immortal life of a vampire did end. They looked to each other for signs of understanding but all of them were utterly perplexed by what was going on, preferring to wait out the death of the 'vampire' instead.

'Maria,' Aurora whispered, her voice cracked. 'Maria, don't do this. Please, Maria, you can't leave me.'

Severely weakened and wounded, Maria glanced up at her adopted daughter and raised a shaking, blood-drenched hand to Aurora's cheek. She caressed it lovingly, brushing her fingers against the creamy flesh, tears filling her eyes as she became conscious of the fact that she only had a limited amount of time left alive and she would never see her Aurora again.

'I'm sorry, _mi querida_,' she muttered, using the last of her energy to say these last few words. 'I did ... what I had to ... to save you.'

Aurora's eyes filled with blood tears and she watched as the human clasped her hand tightly, her eyes fiercely locking onto hers.

'You ... must not ... retaliate, Aurora,' she said feebly. 'Do not ... give these people ... what they want. Get out ... of here.'

'Not without you. You're coming with me and I'll get you to a hospital – '

'Promise ... me. Promise me ... you will take care ... of yourself. Live long ... my little girl.'

'No, _no_. I have lost too many people. I lost Godric. I lost my family. I lost Esperanza. I will not lose you too.'

'I will ... see her again. That thought makes me ... happy. You have ... made my life ... worth living. Thank you ... And know always ... that I love you ... '

Aurora could only watch as her eyes became still and her breath died much quicker than it should have done. Her body slumped and even though Aurora shook her fiercely, the life had left her entirely. Aurora held her in her arms and buried her head in her masses of hair, calling her name, praying that she would come back. It was then that Aurora wondered how much more death and loss she could take before her body gave up entirely and she could rejoin those she had loved and lost.

* * *

><p>'<em>Are you girls all right?' <em>

_A voice came from the door and both Aurora and Esperanza turned to see Maria standing there, a cup of coffee clasped in her hand. She looked from one girl to the other, clearly distressed at the sadness in both youthful, innocent faces._

'_Yeah, we're fine, Mom,' Esperanza answered softly. 'Can you come here for a second? We have something we need to talk about.'_

_Maria edged forward until she was close enough to the bed and sat down in the chair Aurora had earlier vacated. Her eyes searched for answers, finding hostile barriers from both girls who glanced at each other, ready to do what was needed. _

'_What's wrong, sweetheart?' Maria asked, concerned. 'Is it the pain?'_

'_No, no, I'm fine. It's just ... I need you to promise me something, Mama.'_

_Maria reached forward and placed her hand on her daughter's, an action that Aurora watched with such sadness and grief she had only experienced a few times in her life, human and immortal._

'_Anything, Esperanza. Anything.'_

_Esperanza drew a pained breath and whispered, 'I need you to promise not to scream.'_

_Before Maria had even a second to consider her daughter's cryptic words, she absentmindedly nodded, not fully knowing what she was agreeing or promising to do. Slowly and deliberately, she saw something out of the corner of her eye, something that both horrified and fascinated her. Aurora opened her mouth slightly and two canines gradually retracted until they grazed her bottom lip. Maria's eyes widened as she witnessed this and her mouth went to make a sound, but she remembered what Esperanza had said and remained silent. In fear and shock, she wordlessly stared at Aurora's teeth – her fangs – and drew quick intakes of breath as thankfully, they disappeared from sight. She glanced back to her daughter who watched her friend with pride before turning to her with valiant eyes._

'_Mama, you have to listen to me. Do you know what Aurora is?'_

'Un vampiro_,' she muttered in her native Spanish. 'She's a vampire, isn't she?'_

_Aurora nodded softly. 'I am. And are you afraid of me?'_

'_No,' Maria found herself saying. She did not fear the girl as she knew that she would do her no harm._

'_Good,' Esperanza said. 'Now, I need you to do something for me, Mama. When I die – '_

'_No, _mi querida_ – '_

'_Mama, there is no use in pretending,' Esperanza interrupted her suddenly. 'I am going to die. There is no use in pretending that it is not going to happen because it will. Mom, you're going to be alone when I'm ... when I'm gone. So will Aurora. You both have no-one to look after, to care for. I want you to take care of each other, for me.'_

'_But she's – '_

'_I don't need much looking after,' Aurora said. 'I just need someone to watch over me.'_

_Maria looked to her daughter now. 'Are you serious? This will feel like I'm replacing you.'_

'_I have never had a mother,' Aurora blurted out and Maria's attention was diverted slowly to her. 'My mother died giving birth to me. She died so that I could live. And my family died long, long ago. It's getting harder and harder to remember them now. I have never had a mother figure before. The last human who lived with me died at the same time I met your wonderful daughter and she was like my sister. But I have never really had a mother, someone to hold me when I'm upset or hurt. Someone to give me advice or answers to my questions. Someone ... to love me and be proud of me and cherish me ... '_

_Maria now looked at the girl with different eyes. She saw her not as the creature from before, the vampire straight from legends and myths; she saw Aurora as the girl who had lost her mother without even the chance of knowing her and forced to spend her whole life, however long that had been, without a mother's love. _

'_Guys,' Esperanza said sleepily. 'I'm really tired.'_

'_Okay,' Aurora said, slowly getting off the bed to stand by Maria. 'Have a rest for a while. You've spent half the night talking to me.'_

'_You've been keeping me from my beauty sleep,' Esperanza chuckled. 'You'll both be here when I wake up?'_

'_Of course we will, darling,' Maria said and leaned forward to kiss her daughter's forehead._

'_Good,' she murmured and closed her eyes. 'I love you both ... '_

_She heaved a sigh and fell to sleep but it was not long until her gentle breathing could not be heard and her entire frame was still. The machine at the side of her made a strange noise, a noise that both Maria and Aurora recognized but refused to listen to. They waited for Esperanza's eyes to flutter open, for her to wake up and smile at her yet they knew that she would not wake up and that she had gone, peacefully and without any trace of pain. Maria then heaved a sob and began to cry; Aurora's blood tears fell from her eyes and she could not bear to look at her friend for fear of hysteria. She lay a hand on Maria's shoulder and it was not long before Maria turned her whole body to her. Then, they clung to each other, sobbing together in bouts of sorrowful grief over their loss, knowing that they had only each other and Esperanza's memory from now on._

* * *

><p>Aurora held onto the body for what seemed like hours. No, not the body. It sounded so alien, so foreign. It was still Maria; it looked and felt like Maria, exactly as she had always been. Nonetheless, Aurora knew that her friend had departed this life and the body that she clung to was just an empty shell her lively and effervescent spirit had abandoned. Aurora's lips kept on forming her name as though it was a prayer, a chant, one last attempt on getting her back and reviving her.<p>

'Someone's gotta take care of that kid,' one female voice uttered from behind her. 'She's probably been through a lot tonight, what with this vamper and all ... '

'Why's she acting so ... sad?'

'Maybe she's been hypnotized by the fanger. I heard that they can do that ... '

Subsequently, Aurora felt a hand rest on her shoulder in a seemingly comforting gesture. She did not turn to see the identity of the human who had foolishly dared to venture this close to a grieving vampire.

'Sweetheart,' a man's voice said in a sickly sweet tone that Aurora despised from the very first syllable. 'It's all right. You're safe. It's all over.'

'We're gonna take you home, darling,' another voice, female this time, added. 'Now, where do you live?'

'What are we gonna do about the ... the body?' whispered one to another in a voice that Aurora heard loud and clear as if they were standing next to her.

'We'll leave it here. Let the sun fry her with the Lord's holy light.'

Something in Aurora snapped. She was usually one of the more patient immortals, but she knew that being patient was not going to solve anything. For what felt like the first time in years, she found herself willing the monstrous creature in her to rise up and take control. And take control, it did.

With one swift movement, Aurora grabbed the hand on her shoulder and broke it cleanly with one twitch of her fingers. As the human fell back, screaming in agony, Aurora was forced to leave Maria's body to defend herself. She pushed past the humans with one hand, knocking them to the side with just a fraction of her superhuman strength. With one swift kick, she knocked down the door, almost grinning to herself. Godric had taught her that many years previously as a handy method of escaping situations. The grin wiped off her face as she made her way out; now was not the time for remembering things from so long ago. She had to get out of there to safety. But where was safe? Her own home had been invaded by humans. Where could she go? Who could she turn to?

'_Eric_,' she whispered like a prayer.

Aurora found herself at the end of the path before stealing a glimpse at Maria's lifeless frame. An aching sadness erupted once more inside of her and she vowed to make those humans there pay for what they had done. However, it seemed like they wanted vengeance of their own. Just as Aurora turned to leave, she heard a gunshot and several more followed suit. She believed that the humans had careless aim and none of their bullets had reached their intended target.

She was wrong.

Looking down, she noticed three bleeding areas – one in her leg, one in her stomach and one in her chest, just narrowing missing her heart. She knew that if they were ordinary bullets, she would heal quickly and easily, but if they were wooden or silver ...

She noticed a shell lying on the ground somewhere across from her and noticed the glint in the moonlight. The bullets were silver.

Holding one hand to the wound on her chest, she gathered up as much strength as she could and set off to take refuge in Fangtasia, praying with all her heart that her brother would be there before the silver poisoned her from the inside out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hey guys! Sorry I had to kill off Maria - it was important for Aurora's personal growth and a move forward in her brother/sister relationship with Eric. I'm just starting to write in things about Season Four and Sookie has just come back. I'm hoping to include lots of things from this particular season including some little surprises of my own ... **READ AND REVIEW!**


	17. Chapter 17

Aurora

Trembling and covered in blood that was only half my own, I stumbled into the parking lot of Fangtasia, using the palm of my hand to staunch the blood that was pouring out of one of three wounds. Even now, I could feel the silver inside of me; I knew exactly where the bullets had struck me, but I was certain that I could feel it in various other places as though it was floating around my body, circulating in my system. How long would this go on for? I had never felt pain like this and I had felt pain before, many times before, so many that I could scarcely hazard a guess as to the exact number. It was as though the silver from the bullet was trickling around me, making its way around my body through the use of my bloodstream and poisoning each and every sinew in my body. I had to get it out of me. I did not know how much more of it I could take. I was strong, but I knew that if I was to endure this for much longer, I would not be strong enough.

I stole a hurried glance at the sky above me; bright colours had replaced the dark shade of midnight blue and the stars had made way for the feathery clouds that I knew awaited the arrival of the glorious morning sun. Knowing that I had only a short time left before I met the same fate as my beloved Godric, I turned back to Fangtasia and with a pained sigh of relief, I noticed that the door to the bar, my only sanctuary now, was only a few more steps away. It dawned on me then that I would make it.

Soon enough, the pain filled my body again with the intensity of knives, stabbing unyieldingly at my system and making my wounds seem even more agonizing. Filled with anguish, I helplessly toppled to the floor, blood tears streaming down my face as I fought against the painful sensations in each and every cell in my body. I hit the cold hard gravel with a hard thud and cried out in pain, vulnerable now due to the sheer torture I had endured tonight. I was as powerless as a mere human. I was a three thousand year old vampire, one of the oldest and strongest in the modern world, and here I was, doubled up on the floor, contaminated by liquid silver. But I cared not for any of this; my mind and every single thought that passed through it was concerned with only the pain and the consequences. From where I was, I could not help but gaze up at the sky, willing all the strength still within me to get up. Instead of my weakened body obeying my command, I felt even more pain shooting up my sides and causing my chest to seize up, my frozen heart ready to give up any minute now and accept the fate that was imminently approaching ...

'You must get up,' said a commanding yet gentle voice.

I glanced to my side to see Godric in all his glowing glory, dressed in the white garments he had been wearing the night he had left me. He was standing just a short distance away from me but he seemed so far away. His eyes were pleading with me silently as his mouth moved with words of desperation and anxiety. Something rational in my mind screamed at me that this was not Godric, only a figment of my imagination, but this did not stop me responding to the ghostly figure of my treasured lover.

'I ... can't.'

'Aurora, my love, you must. The sun is approaching and I do not wish for you to meet it.'

'Why not, Godric?' I challenged him in a crippled voice. 'I would like ... nothing more than to ... join you.'

'No,' he said firmly, his teeth gritted. 'You do not give up, Aurora. Not now. Not after everything we've been through.'

'I've heard those words before, Godric, and last time, _I_ was the one saying them to _you_.'

Godric winced as my words stung him and I immediately regretted them, more tears springing to my eyes, adding to those brought by the pain. I cried for my deceased Godric and wept for my pain. I wished for it all to end. I wanted nothing more than an end to the pain and soon, the end would come in the form of the sunlight.

'I love you too much to let you die,' Godric whispered. 'I could not bear it. You must live, Aurora.'

'You promised me, Godric,' I reminded him through my tears. 'Immortality. An eternity together. You broke your promise. You left me all alone in this world. I couldn't stand it. I loved you too much to be parted from you, Godric. I wanted so badly to join you. If I could not live forever with you in life, then I would in death.'

'Live, Aurora,' he begged me. 'If not for me, then for Eric.'

I froze at the mention of the Viking who both Godric and I counted as our dear family. Godric was right. No matter how much I wished to join him, I could not leave Eric. He had already lost his maker, the one person who had meant the world to him and speaking from my own experience, I knew how painful it was to lose Godric. It felt like my soul was ripping to shreds and that my body could not hold the entirety of the grief I was feeling. I felt as if when Godric died, a part of me died with him. What would the pain be like for losing a sibling? Would it be the same? Or did it have the potential to be worse? I could not let Eric go through that if it was even a fraction of the pain of losing our maker.

'Don't leave him,' Godric continued. 'He needs you, Aurora. He needs you, more than both you and him know. You have both lost so many over the years. You carry each other. You are strong together. So please ... think about what this will do to him.'

I thought for a moment, contemplating my options before choosing the right one – to live and to stay with Eric.

'I love you,' Godric told me, a smile tugging at his lips, the lips I would give anything to kiss. 'I will love you until the end of time.'

'I love you, Godric,' I whispered and made to move, to rise from the ground and live to see another night. Suddenly, my muscles failed me as more silver leaked into them and I was rendered immobile. I screamed out at the agonizing sensations overcoming me and knew that even though I had decided to live, the venomous silver inside of me had decided otherwise. I saw my maker, watching me with such grief and fear, and reached out for him, my fingertips eager to reach his soft skin, to touch him even though he was an apparition, a mere ghost formed by my loving memories of him.

'Godric,' I whispered his name, the name of the man I loved, before my heavy eyes closed and I plunged into darkness, knowing that soon, the light would flood in and I would be nothing but ash, so like my dearly departed love.

* * *

><p>He was not supposed to be there. He knew the consequences of his actions and the repercussions of what he now intended to do. What if someone saw him there? What if someone discovered what he was about to do? A rational part of his brain told him to turn back now, to stop what he was doing and go home to think no more of it. However, he knew that what he was witnessing would never leave his thoughts, having been etched into his brain at first sight.<p>

It was by chance that he saw her; a few moments earlier, he would have missed her lying there and a few moments later, there would have been nothing of her. He could do nothing but stare at the girl lying there on the ground, still and motionless as a corpse. He thought he had been too late and that her precious life had been lost, but he knew that there was still a chance that she would be alive, even though the evidence amounting against it seemed paramount. He started towards her slowly, squinting at her in the dim light of the near dawn, only minutes away from the glory of the breaking sun.

He knelt next to her and studied her, his eyes flickering over her face and body. She was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life; her skin was no less than porcelain and her features were what he could only imagine to be a sculptor's dream. Her beautiful skin was marred by blood lines running down her cheeks, spoiling the paleness there, but he could not spare a thought for that. He looked down at her body which was covered in more blood and he noticed the three wounds with a strange silvery look to them just under the pale flesh. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to hazard a guess as to what had happened to this mysterious girl. His keen eyes then caught a flash of white underneath the perfectly formed lips and he gently used the very tip of his thumb to pull up her top lip. There, right in front of him, were two long fangs, just lightly resting on her bottom lip. That had been something he had not been expecting.

'Oh my God!' he cursed without thinking and flinched away from the fangs.

She was a vampire. He had never come across a vampire before. Now, she fascinated him even more. What to do now, he thought – should he leave her here or help her? He knew a lot about vampires and the terrible things of which they were capable. If the two of them had come across each other earlier, she could have drained him dry, drinking all of his blood and callously leaving his cold, dead body on the ground on which she now lay. Now, she was vulnerable and weakened; he seemed to have the upper hand, the prey more powerful than the predator. He then decided at that moment what to do. He was going to be the better man now. He was going to save her.

Looking over his shoulder in a fleeting moment of paranoia, he lifted the hood of his jacket so that his face was hidden. The last thing that he needed was someone recognizing him while he helped a vampire of all people. He lifted her up into his arms, her legs over one arm and her head over the other. Once she was comfortably there, he glanced down at her and lightly brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes. He could not begin to fathom how beautiful this girl once; once he started gazing at her, he could not bare to tear his eyes away ...

A few beams of sunlight shot out from behind him and he knew that she would not live should those rays reach her. He saw no means of shielding her from the sunlight; he was stranded in an empty parking lot with a vampire at dawn. His head snapped to all directions, urgently searching for a sign, a saviour. He then noticed the black door in front of him, the entrance to the vampire bar, Fangtasia. Realizing that the bar was her only hope, he ran towards it, careful not to jostle the unconscious girl in his arms as he did not know how deep a vampire's sleep was.

Once there, he found the door to be open and with all the strength he could muster, he turned his back to the door and pushed as hard as he could. He found himself in the bar itself, a colour scheme of the stereotypical vampire shades of red and black. He glanced around him and saw a blonde woman, dressed in next to nothing and teetering in the highest heels he had ever seen, a key clasped in her hand. Her mouth opened into an O shape at the sight of him and she froze in shock as he rushed for something to lay the girl down on, brushing past her and ignoring her pleading.

'What are you doing here? You need to leave! You're not allowed in here! Listen to me! You have to go _now_!'

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as he ignored her and gently laid the girl down on a black leather chaise long. He kept his back facing the woman who now rushed towards him; he could tell this by the clatter of her heels against the floor.

'Listen to me, kiddo,' she yelped, reaching the chaise long. 'You need to get – Oh sweet Jesus! Miss Aurora!'

The woman – he assumed she was a waitress or an employee of this bar – knelt beside the girl's head and after a few seconds mumbling what sounded to him like a prayer, her head snapped to his with angry eyes.

'Did _you_ do this to her?' she hissed at him, her eyes narrowed.

He shook his head furiously. 'No, I didn't. I found her just outside. She had collapsed on the ground. I was trying to help her.'

The woman thought for a moment and spoke, more to herself than to him. 'The Master must know. I'll have to tell him.'

'The Master?' he repeated the alien phrase and could only watch as the woman sprinted to the bar counter and picked up a phone, jabbing in a number she knew by heart. She bit down on her bottom lip nervously, anxiously for the person on the end to pick up the phone. When they eventually did, she gave a little start as if in fear.

'Master, it's Ginger ... Yes, I know it's nearly dawn ... There's been an incident over here ... It's your sister ... It's Miss Aurora ... Something's wrong ... Master? Are you there?'

The woman, Ginger, put down the phone fretfully and rushed back to him, wringing her hands in apprehension.

'He's coming now,' she told him.

'Who's coming?' he questioned in genuine curiosity.

Ginger gestured to the unconscious girl lying in front of them. 'Her brother. And trust me, he's one scary guy. I'd get out of here if I was you.'

'Is she going to be all right?' he queried.

'She's a vampire,' Ginger sighed. 'They're always all right. It's their blood. It's like magic. Not that I'd know 'cause I've had any ... '

He stood then, knowing that it would be wise for him to leave. However, he caressed the girl's cheek softly with the lightest touch of his fingertips.

'Goodbye, Aurora,' he whispered and left the bar, knowing that he would make it his mission to see her again. She fascinated him and he could not wait until she would awaken and they could meet properly. If she awakened ... He did not think of that. Vampires could heal from pretty much anything. He already could guess that Aurora would not go without a fight and grinned at that very thought.


	18. Chapter 18

For the first time in what felt like centuries, Eric could not speak. It was not by his own choice; he found that he had literally rendered speechless. No comment dipped in sarcasm sprung to his mind and no cold statement that could chill a soul to its very core emerged in his thoughts, ready to be unleashed to whatever creature dissatisfied him in any way. He put the phone down numbly, disregarding Ginger's yelps of pleading, and stood there like cold and immobile marble. Aurora ... Something was wrong with Aurora. That was all that mattered to him now at that very moment. He had to get there. He had to help his sister.

Before he was even aware of it, he was floating off the ground and taking off into the skies, leaving the ground behind and using the fastest means possible to reach his sister. He knew that the sun was out and it was extremely dangerous, but he realised that if he flew low in the sky, the shadows of buildings would protect him until he was safely inside Fangtasia. Whilst there, he made use of his connection to Pam and told her to meet him at Fangtasia. A shudder through him told him that Pam had understood his command and was obeying him right away. He could only imagine that his progeny had her own reasons for doing as he asked; he definitely knew that although Pam did not like Aurora too much, she understood Eric's bond with her and in her book, anyone who was as close to her maker as Aurora was worthy of some form of her respect.

Eric arrived at Fangtasia in next to no time at all, his feet landing in a catlike motion on the hard ground right by the door. He stole a glimpse at the rising sun in a second of morbid curiosity that even he could not explain. Aurora needed him and he had no time to lose for he did not know the seriousness of her injuries. Her injuries ... Eric could not fully understand this. She was just over two thousand years old – how could she fall victim to whatever it was that was now plaguing her? Maybe it was serious. Eric dreaded to think of the never-ending list of possibilities as he entered his establishment.

The bar was completely deserted as the Viking hurried in; all of the patrons and customers of his bar had vacated the premise hours ago and now an eerily silence, usually filled by mindless chatter and a low thudding music, settled over the place. His keen eyes scanned the area around him, finding his ailing sister in a matter of seconds. She was lying on a long black chaise, her face and body covered in blood that Eric guessed was only partly her own as he could smell the blood of a human on her. She was as still as stone and had Eric not known any better, he would have thought her to be dead already.

He rushed to her side without a moment's hesitation, kneeling next to her and resting one hand on her forehead, his fingertips lightly stroking her feather-soft skin. He paid no attention at all to his progeny, who was almost bored at the events playing in front of her, and the hysterical Ginger, who was mumbling a hurried prayer in an idiotic manner. Eric could only focus now on Aurora and her fragile state.

'How long has she been like this?' he demanded.

'Ever since he brought her in, Master,' Ginger answered shakily.

Eric's eyebrows furrowed and his head snapped to see Ginger who nearly passed out at this sudden action. 'He? Who brought her in?'

'I – I don't know, sir. He had his ... hood pulled up. Couldn't really see his face in this light. He was young though and definitely human.'

'A human?' Pam asked. 'You've got to be kidding me ... '

Eric ignored her and glared at Ginger. 'Are you sure he was human?'

'Almost definitely, Master, but I can't be too sure – '

'Well, whoever he is, he has shown a great compassion to my sister,' Eric murmured. 'He has possibly saved her life, but right now, it is difficult to tell.'

'Eric, Nan Flanagan is coming to the bar tonight,' Pam reminded him in an irritated tone. 'What do you think she's gonna do if she sees your sister in this state?'

'I am well aware of that fact, Pamela, and I'm sure that she would use Aurora as a part in one of her ridiculous campaigns for the AVL.'

'Campaigns that _we_ have to take part in, may I add,' Pam grumbled.

Eric then turned back to Aurora and glanced down at her body. Her clothes had been ripped in various places, but he was more concerned about the three holes in her clothing. He lightly fingered them to examine them closely; if he had to make an educated guess, he would have said that bullets had passed through these holes into her skin. But in order for the bullets to have any effect, they would have to have been wooden or silver ...

Eric's face soured and he was now barking instructions to his progeny and employee. He understood now that Aurora had been silvered and although her healing powers were far greater than most other vampires, they would only withstand a small amount of silver in her bloodstream.

'Pam, get Dr Ludwig on the phone and bring her here this instant. Ginger, you are free to leave, but if my sister awakens and she requires blood, you will serve as a donor. Clear?'

'As crystal, Eric,' Pam said and made her way to his office to use the phone.

Eric faced Aurora and kissed her forehead. It was a very human action to do, but he knew that she was fighting for survival and he could not bear that. He could not lose another of his family. The pain would be too severe for even him, the famously cold and brutal Eric Northman, to endure.

'Eric?' croaked a hoarse voice.

Eric's eyes flickered down to see Aurora's eyes fully open and staring up at him. He had never been more grateful to see those eyes than he was now. A smile flitted across his face and he caressed her cheek affectionately.

'Aurora,' he murmured her name softly. 'What happened to you, sister?'

Aurora made a groaning sound and tried to sit up, but he ushered her down gently and she closed her eyes, reliving the proceedings before confessing them to him, her eyes filling with blood tears.

'Humans ... they came to my _home_ ... and they ... they killed her ... '

'They killed Maria,' Eric said to Aurora's tearful nod.

'I tried to run ... Eric, they shot me ... Silver ... '

'I sensed it was that, but you shouldn't strain yourself. I have someone on their way to heal you.'

Aurora glanced down at herself and the tips of her fingers brushed the areas where she had been shot. 'Eric, my wounds are healed, but the silver ... it's still inside me ... and it's agonizing ... '

'It will be over soon,' Eric said. 'I promise.'

Suddenly. Aurora cried out in pain and she writhed in Eric's grip. Eric tried with all his might to hold her down on the chaise, but no matter how much effort he put in, she was much stronger than he was and managed to fight him off easily. For fear of losing a limb, Eric stayed away from her but close enough to hold her as she screamed and vomited blood onto the floor. Eric could only hold her and pray that the good doctor would arrive soon and end the poor girl's suffering.

* * *

><p>I had never had feelings like them before. It was like butterflies erupted in my stomach and I could barely contain myself from blushing a deep crimson. My legs felt like they were going to collapse at any given moment and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was the strangest thing and it was something I would have never expected to happen to me. Here I was, the youngest daughter of a great noble family, giggling and blushing foolishly like an empty-headed sprite.<p>

I looked at him again, glancing his way from where I was sat in the courtyard. I had been sewing something, but my concentration had long since disappeared and I could no longer bring myself to continue my work properly. My eyes met his and held their gaze for a second longer than usual. I then looked away, a smile tugging at my lips, an identical look on his face.

'You are letting me win, Godric!' cried the impatient and mildly irritated voice of my brother, breaking the mood entirely, swinging his sword in the air in frustration.

'Sorry, Master Cassius,' Godric apologized light-heartedly. 'I was ... distracted.'

'Yes, well, distraction is not going to help me if a war comes, now is it?' Cassius laughed and prepared himself, holding the sword up ready for an attack.

I could not help but roll my eyes at him from afar. Cassius was always set on becoming a great war hero, returning from battles in faraway lands with all the glory and might he had dreamed of for years. He was apparently the best swordsman of his age around, but there had been many a foolish young boy to test this title and they had been humiliated by him to showcase their pride. Pride was one of Cassius' greatest weaknesses, but he knew that glory in battle and war came with a price and he did not relish the thought of taking life, even in self-defence. I would never tell him this for fear of his head growing again, but I was frightened for him; however, he never seemed to be fearful in the slightest so I decided that I was the one to be scared for the both of us. I did not want him to go to war because I was terrified that he would not return. I wanted him to have the career and life he had always wanted, but I wanted him safe as well as content, more than anything in fact. I could not lose my brother, the one person in the world who knew and understood me completely.

A clash of metal brought me out of my nightmarish thoughts and I focused my attention on the play fighting. My father had gone to the city on business matters and the servants were busy at work in other parts of the house and the estate. Cassius had grown close to Godric over the two months he had been with us and now counted him as a friend rather than a servant, their relationship built on mutual respect. Godric had also become my guard and had dutifully served me for the time he had been here. Spending most of my time around him unquestionably had not diminished any of the feelings that overcame me whenever he was around. I could not help it. What was wrong with me?

Cassius had by now claimed the upper hand over Godric and although I knew perfectly well that this was only pretend and that Cassius would never intentionally hurt Godric, I could not help but feel apprehensive when the sharp blade of the sword Cassius wielded expertly came into close contact with Godric's skin. I watched the fight like a hawk and breathed a sigh of relief when Godric hit back with full force, grinning to himself as he did so.

'My, my, Godric,' Cassius laughed, having landed on the floor after being pushed back by Godric. 'Where did you learn to fight like that?'

'When you witness battles and fighting in the ranks of the Roman army, you tend to pick up a few things.'

'That is where I am headed,' Cassius said and took Godric's offered hand, standing fluidly on his feet. 'The army will take me to exotic places and to ... to _glory_.'

'War is not exotic, Master Cassius,' Godric pointed out, 'nor does it always lead to glory.'

'Not when I am fighting,' Cassius said and caught me staring from afar, smiling to myself at the quick exchange of words between the two of them. 'Is something so funny, sister?'

'Not at all, brother dear,' I said and made my way over to where they stood. I noticed that Godric's eyes fell to his feet before they found mine and he shuffled nervously on the spot. I glanced now at Cassius who held his shoulder over his right shoulder expertly. 'I have no doubt that you will be a great war hero, Cassius, but for now, you must focus. You are not on the battlefield now, brother.'

Cassius rolled his eyes. 'And what do _you_ know of battles, my dear sister?'

'You know as well as I do of the stories passed through word of mouth. Every man who has ever walked through these doors has told some story of a battle they have witnessed or fought in. Father used to tell you stories as a boy, of when he fought as a legionnaire.'

Cassius nodded in agreement and sighed, looking at Godric and gesturing to me. 'My sister speaks with a wisdom and wit that is exceedingly rare, Godric.'

'Indeed she does,' Godric murmured softly.

I met his eyes and gazed longingly at him, knowing that if I spent a lifetime just looking at him, then that would be a lifetime well spent. _Longingly_? What was happening to me?

'I had best go and put this away,' Cassius said, looking at the sword. 'It's Father's best and if he notices it out of place ... '

Grinning at both Godric and I, he went on his way, leaving us two alone in the empty courtyard, far from prying eyes and anything else. It could have been just the two of us in the whole world. It certainly felt like it.

'Godric?' I murmured his name quietly and watched his eyes sparkle as I said it. 'May I make a request of you?'

'Of course, Miss Aurora,' he said. 'You can ask anything of me.'

I lightly touched the blade of his sword and my fingertips trailed up to his hand, feeling both the cold metal of the hilt and the soft flesh of his hand. He let go of the hilt and I took it for myself, holding it the way I had seen Cassius hold it many times before.

'Would you ... perhaps teach me a few techniques swordplay?' I whispered.

Godric's eyes widened slightly, but in intrigue and fascination, not in horror and distaste as it would if I had asked this of anyone else. 'Miss Aurora, it is not my place – '

'You spend hours practising with my brother and yet you will not teach me anything?' I said a little sharply. 'What if the techniques you have stored in your mind could help me protect myself?'

'I believe that protecting you is _my_ job,' he chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow at him. 'Godric, please. I am asking you not as a mistress, but as a friend ... '

At the mention of the word 'friend', it was as though it had struck a chord with him. He looked up and moved closer to me until he was only a few centimetres away from me. His face was directly in front of mine, his lips only a short distance away from mine. His fingertips traced my arm down to the hilt of the sword, making every cell in my body tingle at the slight touch of his skin coming into contact with mine. He grabbed the hilt and turned me around so that I was no longer facing him and I was pressed up against him, the sword stretched out in front of me. His hand still on mine over the hilt, his free hand circled me and pulled me even closer to him. I felt my heart flutter in excitement and my breathing grew heavier as he rested his head on my shoulder, his words caressing my ears as he spoke.

'Now, I need you to trust me, Aurora.'

'I trust you, Godric,' I told him truthfully.

'You must listen to me and every instruction I give,' he murmured. 'Now, I want you to bring your hand back ... '

As he spoke, his hand gripped mine and he brought it to the side along with my sword.

' ... and this will serve as a defence against your opponent. You protect your heart, Aurora.'

'I think it is already protected,' I whispered almost inaudibly.

At these words, his grip on my hand loosened and I took this moment to put the sword down and to turn to face him properly. His hands lay on the small of my back, bringing me closer to him. I rested my hands on his cheeks and my eyes locked with his yet again in an unyielding gaze. My heart pounded against my chest, demanding to be free of my body. My body longed for Godric in ways I could not even begin to understand or comprehend.

'You hardly need to learn how to protect yourself, Aurora,' he said, his eyes never leaving mine. 'You're stronger than you think. You're a born fighter.'

I prayed for his lips to lean in and touch mine, to rejoice in the kiss that I had longed for. Then, as though it had been planned, I heard the clatter of heavy footfalls and broke free of Godric's strong hold. He blushed and picked up the sword, turning to me before he left with a sincere look that I had never seen before.

'I promise you, Aurora. Nothing and no-one shall harm you, not while I am still breathing. I will protect you. I can promise you that.'

* * *

><p>My own pained screams pierced the air and I realised that I had been forcibly wrenched from the peace given to me by my memories of my human life back into the present. My eyes flew open and I saw Eric there, squeezing my hand and trying to hold me down to the chaise. Pam stood over me and next to her, working at me like a surgeon, was Dr Ludwig, a sour look on her wrinkled face. Next to me were the remains of the bullets and a few drops of the liquid silver that was coursing through me.<p>

'Can you make this go any faster?' Eric growled at the doctor.

'Patience is considered a virtue, Mr Northman,' Dr Ludwig snapped, fully concentrated on whatever it was that she was doing.

'Not to me, it isn't. Can't you see she's in pain?'

'I'm not blind and I am certainly not deaf. I _know_ she is in pain. Agony, more like. She has been poisoned with a high dosage of silver. Not even a vampire of her years can stand that, Mr Northman, I can tell you.'

'GET IT OUT OF ME!' I screamed at anyone who would listen as another shock rippled through me.

'All in good time, Miss,' Dr Ludwig said. 'All in good time ... '

It felt like centuries had passed, but finally she managed to get all of the silver out of my system. I did not like the doctor, but a great rush of relief washed over me when she had finished her work and I had never been this thankful for the work she had done in curing me. She then informed me that I had been seriously weakened by the liquid silver, which had affected my bloodstream, and that I needed blood in order to replenish my damaged system.

'Not that synthetic blood, mind you,' Dr Ludwig said, packing her things away. 'You need real blood otherwise your system won't reboot.'

'Pam, procure someone,' Eric commanded his progeny and Pam dutifully did as she asked as well as escorting the doctor from the premises. He then turned back to me and smiled. 'I've never liked her very much.'

'Come on, Eric. Pam's not that bad.'

He could not help but grin at this. 'No, not Pam. Dr Ludwig has helped me out of many a sticky situation, but it has come to my attention that she would rather take my money than actually do as I ask.' He stroked my forehead softly. 'Still, she healed you, which means that she'll be getting an extra zero in her payment.'

'I had never felt pain like that before, Eric,' I admitted, now having the strength to sit up and address him. 'And that worries me.'

'How so, Aurora?'

'I'm two thousand years old. I shouldn't be worried about what humans can do to me and now I've experienced firsthand what they are capable of.'

'I've said it once and I'll say it again. Humans cannot be trusted. We were never meant to co-exist alongside them. They will never trust us, only fear us.'

'Maria wasn't like that,' I murmured, thinking back to the human I had once trusted and cared for. Now she lay in the house, alone and lifeless. I made a note to ask Eric to go and get her ... I could not bring myself to say the word 'body' because it was still so unreal to me that she was really gone.

'I know, darling,' Eric murmured. 'There are rare exceptions, few cases of humans and vampires coexisting naturally. It is a mild feat in our world for one as old as you to be cohabitating with humans.'

'I see no problem,' I said simply. 'We were all human once, however long ago. I do not see any reason why we must sever our ties with them.'

'Because, sister, we are the predators and they are the prey. It is the natural order of things. It is the way it is meant to be.'

The door then opened and Pam strode in with a young man who appeared to have bite marks nearly all over his body. He glanced at Eric with a revered enthralment, the same way that a human would act around a celebrity of sorts. Pam led the young man over to the chaise where he knelt obediently, eager for a vampire to sink their fangs into his flesh. I did despair of him and wondered how it had ever come to this.

'Are you sure?' I asked both him and Eric.

'Aurora, you heard what she said,' Eric reminded me. 'You must drink fresh blood. It will heal you.'

'What about your rules? No biting?'

'Like I said, _you_ are an exception.'

I gripped the human's body tightly and prepared myself, letting my glistening fangs drop. At this click, the human's eyes closed in a moment of ecstasy before my animalistic nature conquered me and I bit down on his neck, drawing fresh blood and revelling the gloriousness of the true life force, the only real sustenance for my kind. I was a vampire, I reminded myself. This was what I was meant for.

No emotions. No feelings. Only blood. Blood solved everything. Blood was the answer.

I reared my head back and looked down at the human. I had barely taken any at all due to the insistence of my conscience, but I felt myself being drawn to it again. I was a monster – I might as well act like one. I took a little more and pushed the human away, knowing that I would kill him if I took a few gulps more. I glanced up at Eric who seemed to be admiring and criticising my restraint at the same time. I answered his unspoken questions plainly and simply in one short answer.

'I will not take human life.'

Eric smiled and kissed my forehead again. 'I know. You truly are Godric's progeny.'


	19. Chapter 19

'Yes, of course, Fangtasia is for everyone,' Pam said in the most monotonous voice I had ever heard in my two thousand years. 'Vampires, humans, men, women, families, pets.'

I stifled a laugh and instead covered my mouth to prevent any sound emitting from it and causing any trouble. I was sat at the very back of Fangtasia, watching intently as the AVL representatives filmed yet another one of their campaigns to regain the lost trust of countless humans who had turned to hating vampires after the Edgington incident. That was all Nan Flanagan said it was – an incident, nothing more than unfortunate and unseen circumstances that had been orchestrated by a madman. However, many of us older vampires believed that this had only been a short time coming. We anticipated the backlash of Edgington's accidents just as every other vampire did, but part of us knew that we would never fully coexist with humans and that the vampires who thought it possible were only kidding themselves. I had been all for the coexistence of humans and vampires, but I believed that our ties to the human race had been severed beyond extensive repair and nothing that the AVL or the Authority did would fully retrieve that trust and understanding that had once been a blessing to our kind.

'Something funny?' sneered a greasy-haired human man behind the camera, glaring at me as though I was merely the dirt he had scraped off his ridiculous looking shoe.

'Of course not,' I smirked, my eyes gesturing to the still-recording camera. 'Haven't you got filming to do?'

The man huffed and turned back to Pam whose tone had, by some miracle, become even more bored. I had no clue as to why Pam was the spokesperson for Fangtasia when it seemed perfectly clear to me that she could not care less.

'Everyone is welcome. Come on down. The blood is warm and so is the service.'

I rolled my eyes at this. Pam was about as warm as an iceberg and this campaign was only serving to prove that point further.

'And do human families have anything to fear with vampire-owned businesses in their community?' asked the human interviewer, dressed smartly in a black suit. I noted that he seemed to be very calm and collected even though he was interrogating an irritated vampire and I had to admire the nerve behind the questions he was throwing at Pam.

'No,' Pam said bluntly, putting an end to that query.

Nan Flanagan, in her prime spot behind a monitor, made an exasperated gesture and I worried for a single moment that Pam's blunt statement had not been enough to satisfy the interviewer and fully answer his question.

'Can you elaborate on that?' he pressed her.

Pam's mouth dropped open comically before answering him, resuming the same dull tone from before.

'Human families have nothing to fear with vampire-owner businesses in their community.'

'Then God help the humans,' I murmured under my breath.

As if on cue, Eric appeared, swaggering behind Pam and stood behind the bar, doing some mindless work there. I knew my brother well enough to know that he loved attention and standing in front of a camera would be nothing short of daily life for him. I grinned to myself as I watched him and he seemed to have noticed this as he winked at me with an identical grin to mine.

'Stop!' Nan ordered fiercely. 'Cut! _That _– ' she pointed one finger at Eric who barely raised his eyes ' – is the man we want.'

My grin only grew wider. This was getting better and better by the minute.

'What?' Eric said innocently. 'Pam not so good?'

'She was fine,' Nan said cattily, 'if you happen to be blind and deaf and an idiot.'

Pam pulled a face that lasted for only a second so as to not catch Nan's eye. 'What's idiotic is that the AVL believes the public to be so naive.'

I could take no more of this bickering. Whilst the two female vampires locked angry glares at one other, I stood up and within a blink of a human eye, I was by Eric's side. He looked up to see me and a beautiful smile appeared on his handsome face, a smile that belonged to only me.

'Hello, _syster_,' he greeted me. 'Enjoying the show?'

'You know me too well, Eric,' I chuckled. 'Is this really necessary, Eric? All this publicity for Fangtasia being good for humans? I thought that the whole point of the bar was that – '

'It isn't?' he offered and I nodded. 'That is true, Aurora, but the AVL needs a vampire-run business to use next.'

'And this was the best wholesome family business they had ... '

Eric chuckled and looked back to Nan who was now in the midst of delivering a whole speech to the small congregation of people scattered around her with various electrical appliances.

'Time for me to go and save the day,' Eric murmured and started to walk past me round to where Pam had been placed on a stool facing the camera and the people.

'Now,' she said, finishing her monologue, 'can anyone here play this game?'

Eric stood next to Pam and flicked back a lock of her blonde hair only to remove the microphone clipped to her pink jacket. He waved her off with a flick of his hand and attached the little piece to his black leather jacket, waving at the confused humans and settling himself on the stool.

'He's enjoying this, isn't he?' Pam remarked to me from her new stance next to me.

'This _is_ Eric,' I said. 'He's loving every second of it.'

Hearing this, Eric flashed me a smile before turning his stare at the camera and beginning what could only be one of the most enigmatic speeches ever spoken on an AVL campaign.

'My name is Eric Northman. I'm a tax-paying American and small business owner in the great state of Louisiana. I also happen to be a vampire.'

* * *

><p>The night after Nan Flanagan's media show starring our very own Eric Northman had been wrapped, Fangtasia was to be open as usual and my presence had been requested of by my brother who had firmly insisted that I be there for some reason or another. I knew it was primarily to keep Pam out of trouble; without the ever-watchful eye of her maker observing from his grand throne, she had a habit of running the bar the way she saw fit. My only guess was that Eric reasoned that I knew him well enough now to know fully well how he ran his business.<p>

'Well, if you are going tonight, then why do I have to go?' I had queried him after sunset that night. I had accepted his kind offer of a coffin for the night as I was more than wary of returning to my house just yet. I could see that Eric felt that too and therefore he had been adamant that I be given one of the best coffins in his home. He did not disappoint and had presented me with a black coffin lined inside with red velvet – it was a little Gothic for my tastes, but I would never complain to Eric about the hospitality he had shown me.

'Who said that I was going?'

'So you're not?' I gathered and rolled my eyes at his exaggerated nod. 'Why?'

'Because I have errands to run, curious one,' Eric said, handing me a glass filled with blood. 'O-negative. Drink up, little miss.'

'You always have 'errands to run',' I said, doing my best imitation of his voice.

'That is because I have places to go and people to see. And rather than have my demands ignored or not done sufficiently, I do them mostly myself.'

'It's a hard life, isn't it, brother?' I chuckled and reluctantly took the glass from him, swirling around the contents as if it was merely red wine. 'I thought that I was going back to drinking Tru Blood.'

'You know my feelings on that ridiculous synthetic substitute. No bite whatsoever. You need to drink more _real_ blood, Aurora.'

'I hardly need blood any more, Eric, not at my age.'

'Now where have I heard that before?' Eric murmured to himself before speaking in a louder voice to address me. 'That may be true, but you still require blood in order to sustain your hunger and keep you strong. Although now that I think about it, you don't really it for that ... '

I found myself in peals of laughter at the face Eric pulled and could barely contain my amusement any longer. Godric had always said that I was at my most beautiful when I was happy or when I smiled; I probably looked close to a goddess in my fits of mirth. In times such as these, it felt good to smile and joke along with my beloved brother, who realised was now the only family I had left. Except for Pam, who would not miss not being counted too much.

'It's good to see you smile, Aurora,' Eric remarked, caressing my cheek affectionately. 'Now, just to let you know, over the next few days, I shall have my day-men move your things here.'

My brows furrowed and I threw Eric a confused look. 'What do you mean?'

'Aurora, I understand that you will probably not return to your house, not after what happened there.'

I was rendered speechless and without an answer to his statement. I could not meet his gaze and instead focused my attention on the glass of blood, which I now had in my hand, careful not to crush the dainty frame with just a twitch of my fingers. I then downed the glass as elegantly as I possibly could and placed it down on the table adjacent to me. I glanced back at my brother who watched me in mild fascination.

'I have more good memories in that house than bad ones,' I told him. 'I had many wonderful years there with Maria ... '

I should not have said her name. As soon as I uttered it, the image of her lifeless corpse was conjured up in my mind. I could not think of her in that way; I had accepted that she was gone and she was never going to come back, but I wanted to remember her before that night, before she had died in my arms.

'And I myself would not have you go back there,' Eric said, bringing me from the brink of grief. 'Those humans could have staked you right then and there. You must be vigilant during these times when humans know our weaknesses and the corrects methods to finish us off.'

'I thought that the big, bad Eric Northman was not afraid of humans.'

'Don't be so ridiculous. I am only afraid of them hurting you again. If another human so much as harms a hair on your head, then I would show them just how big and bad I could be ... '

Sensing the darkness flooding Eric's face, I placed my hands on his clenched fists in an attempt to calm him. I loved Eric dearly, but I could not help but think of the fact that he thought that I was just a child, helpless and vulnerable. I had been a bloodthirsty monster long before he had even been born, but to him, I was the sister he found himself needing to take care of and protect.

'Thank you, Eric, for everything you have done for me. And to make you happy, I will stay here.'

His lips broke into a grin at this, but I looked up at him meaningfully to signal to him that I was not finished yet.

'However, you must realise that although you think you're trying to protect me, I'm not vulnerable or helpless. I can protect myself. I've been doing that for just over two thousand years. Eric, you need to understand that what happened the other night was nothing.'

'Nothing compared to what could have happened,' he muttered darkly.

'True. They could have staked me. But they didn't. I am fine and I live to see another night.'

He heaved a sigh dramatically and glanced at me before pulling me into his arm and resting his head on the top of mine, his fingers inattentively curling around my hair.

'I understand, Aurora. How could I not? You're far too much like me.'

'I thought that you said I was more like Godric,' I countered.

Eric released me so that he could plant a soft kiss on my forehead. 'Maybe I was wrong. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.'

* * *

><p>'I can see now why Eric likes it up here,' I whispered to myself as my eyes roamed over the bar, mirroring my absent brother's actions before I could realise it. I was sat in his throne on the stage, overlooking the patrons and employees of Fangtasia. I had been here for almost an hour and it was safe to say that I was bored out of my mind. I grinned to myself – maybe I was too much like Eric.<p>

'Enjoying yourself, your Highness?' said a voice that made my grin the slightest bit bigger. Pam made her way up to the stage and stood with one arm resting on the headrest, overseeing the humans as I did.

'I am, thank you, Pam,' I smiled up at her innocently. 'There doesn't seem to be too many people here tonight.'

'What are you trying to say?' she said, raising an eyebrow.

'It was just an observation,' I said coolly.

'Yes, well, customers come and go, but you can be safe assured that one day they will return. They always come back for more.'

I chuckled, 'Even though they know the risks?'

'Honey, that's the reason why they even come here.'

My eyes were diverted to a couple now entering through the door. He was one of the tallest men I had ever seen; I think he may have even been taller than Eric. He wore a plaid shirt and working boots; he also wore an expression that told me that he was thinking of places he would rather be than here, but one elated look from his female companion and a stupid smile flitted across his face. I felt myself sympathise with the poor human: he was only doing this to make her happy. The girl hanging onto his arm was obviously a vampire with red hair and a dress that matched, highlighting her porcelain skin and full lips. As soon as she walked in, men across the bar did double takes and I swear that Pam's eyebrow raised a quarter of an inch higher.

'Who is that, Pam?' I enquired curiously.

'The human dressed like a lumberjack, I neither know nor care who he is. But Little Red, that's Jessica, the progeny of our fine King Bill.'

'She is Bill's progeny?' I repeated.

Pam nodded. 'Daddy's little girl. She used to live in his big old mansion in Bon Temps, but she fell for a human and they've been playing house ever since.'

I looked at the girl, Jessica with keen eyes, watching her as she made her way to dance whilst her boyfriend resigned himself to the bar where Pam had now appeared having left my side with a smirk. Jessica could not have been much older than sixteen or seventeen – the age I had been when Godric had turned me. What had been Bill's reason for making someone as young as her? Love? Compassion? To save her? No, I thought, shaking my head. Those reasons had only appeared in my head because they had been the reasons why Godric had turned me. I remembered hearing of a scandal a while ago about a vampire from Bon Temps killing another of our kind and his punishment had been to turn a young girl and become a maker for the very first time. Although I did not like Bill and his smarmy attitude and his ridiculous haircut, I felt for him having to turn a human against their will. I had become a vampire of my own free will. I had done it to be with Godric forever ...

'Excuse me, sweetheart?'

My head snapped to the side where a group of five teenage boys, no older than eighteen, were standing on the floor by my throne. Not standing, they were staggering, intoxicated beyond reason. They each had a bottle of beer clutched in their hands and a goofy smile plastered on their faces, which were covered in sweat. I recoiled from them instantly as one of them – a tall dark haired boy with blue eyes and a winning smile that girls around him watched earnestly – dared to inch closer to me, his eyes roaming my body from my eyes down.

'Care to dance?' he asked. He must have been the most sober out of them all and by the stink of his breath, that was saying something for the rest of them.

'No, thank you,' I adopted a cold voice.

'Aww,' he sighed and turned back to his comrades who were sniggering like wild hyenas. 'Just one dance, darling. That's all I'm asking.'

'And I am refusing your offer. Now, go.'

'Listen, vampire,' one of his friends barked. 'We come in here and we buy your drinks. The least you could do is – '

' – let you live,' I snarled before my fangs dropped. 'And I am slowly losing my patience with you now. Leave me in peace.'

The leader of this group then reached across and laid his hand on my leg, a gesture that did not last for long. Within a second, I had grabbed his hand in my firm grip and I watched him squirm in pain as I held his forearm with an iron grip.

'Would you like to lose this hand?' I asked him in a hiss behind my glistening fangs.

'No,' he squeaked.

'Good,' I said before releasing his arm. 'Now, go before your request is revoked.'

Cradling his hand, I watched in wicked glee as he gestured to his friends to leave and they followed him out of the door obediently. I settled back into the throne, watching over the humans who now knew better than provoke me. I was surely Eric's sister without a shadow of a doubt.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Just a short chapter to keep you all sated. Hope you had a lovely Christmas and are eagerly awaiting the next few chapters. I am going to include more flashbacks to Rome including the turning of Godric and Aurora ... READ AND REVIEW!


	20. Chapter 20

'Steve Newlin's right! You devils of the night! Steve Newlin's right! You devils of the night!'

The incessant chanting was now unbearable and I rubbed my aching forehead in a last-ditch attempt to make it disappear. I would rather listen to that screeching, thumping music that bounced off the walls of Fangtasia night after night rather than one more second of that racket outside.

'Pass me an A-positive, would you, Pam?' I groaned at my brother's progeny who was standing across from me behind the bar. It was the early hours of the morning and most of the customers had vacated the bar to stagger back to their ordinary little lives. It seemed that only Jessica and her human remained although I noticed that however much he smiled at her, she could not fully return it. Something was on her mind and by the fresh look on her face, she had just fed on another human, a human that was not her own.

'I hope you intend to pay for these,' Pam said grudgingly, handing me a bottle.

'I do,' I promised her and took a sip. 'Keep it on a tab. You do that at bars, don't you?'

Pam looked from the bottle to me sceptically. 'Not meaning to intervene with the sibling relationship and all, but I'm pretty sure that Eric wants to drink the real thing at thirty eight degrees.'

I scowled at her and sipped the bottle again in a small attempt to spite her and her words. 'I shall tell you the same thing I told him. I'm two thousand years old. I need only a small amount of blood to live.'

Pam tutted, 'God, you're so _boring_. Godric sure gave his outgoing nature to Eric exclusively.'

I rolled my eyes at her and decided that I had had enough of her jibes, moving towards the young vampire across the room, hand in hand with her deluded human. When she caught sight of another approaching predator, her eyes snapped to mine and I returned the gaze with a steely one of my own. Her human also noticed me and watched me in fear, a small part of him praying that I wouldn't eat him and that Jessica would protect him.

'Good evening,' I greeted her with a smile that had granted me my way many times before.

'Hi,' she said simply in a Southern twang that was not unlike her maker's. 'Is it true?'

'Is what true?' I asked, puzzled.

The young vampire smiled sweetly, her tongue pushing against her top set of white teeth. 'The people round here, they say things about you.'

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I certainly had not been expecting that to emerge from her mouth. 'About me?'

Jessica nodded innocently. 'They say you're Eric Northman's sister and that you're _two thousand_ years old. So, is it true?'

'Inquisitive little one, aren't you?' I remarked and turned to her human who was watching the interchange between the two vampires in front of him like a tennis match. 'Don't you think so?'

'Yeah, you have no idea,' he laughed along with me. 'You'd think being a vampire with all these urges and secrets, she would learn to – '

'Hoyt,' she said in almost a snap, calling him to attention like a unruly pup. He turned his head to hers lovingly and watched her lips move in pure adoration as if he cherished every single word that she said. 'Would you mind getting me a drink? I'm getting a little hungry.'

The human, Hoyt, then nodded obediently and stood up, towering over me. 'Anything in particular, Jess?'

'No,' she said too sharply. 'Just ... get me anything.'

He smiled goofily at her and nodded courteously at me before heading to the bar in a walk that I could not help but smile at. 'Nice to meet you, miss.'

Once he was safely out of earshot, I turned back to his girlfriend who was fiddling nervously with her nails, trying her very best not to make eye contact with me. I sat down next to her, staring out ahead of me whilst trying to make pleasant conversation. I had been around young vampires many times before – I had been one myself – and I knew what was going through her mind and body. The emotions and senses were more heightened during the first few years in the extremely long life of a vampire and being around humans was unbearable to the part of you that was still clinging to your humanity. I shuddered heavily, ridding myself effectively of the memories that now flooded me. I had too many memories – vivid and blood-drenched memories – of those times.

'Your boyfriend seems nice,' I said. 'How long have you been together?'

'Nice as in a vampire way or as a normal way?' she said suddenly.

'Are there two different ways? I have never thought of that.' I smiled to myself and glanced at her. 'I'm Aurora, seeing as we were not acquainted previously.'

'Jessica,' she said. 'Jessica Hamby.'

'Progeny of Bill Compton, I heard.'

Her head snapped to face me, her eyes wild and questioning. 'How did you know that?'

'I'm over two thousand years old and like you, I have an inquisitive mind. Plus Pam told me.'

Jessica looked up at me, her eyes wide again, not relaxing for a single second. 'I hate being known as just Bill Compton's progeny. I am my own person. It don't matter who my maker is.' She looked at me meaningfully. 'Do you understand what I'm sayin'? I mean, I wouldn't just call you Eric's sister or Godric's progeny?'

I stiffened as I always did when my beloved's name was recalled into conversation. Jessica noticed this and her hand went to her mouth in shock at her very words.

'Oh God,' she said in a muffled voice before she removed her hand. 'I'm sorry. It just came out. I didn't mean to bring him up.'

'It's fine, Jessica,' I assured her even though I was lying through my teeth to her. 'Honestly, it is inevitable for his name to be brought up now and again.'

'I didn't know Godric, but I've heard how close he was to Eric,' she murmured. 'I can sure guess that you were close too.'

I was going to answer her with something close to the statement that the word 'close' did not even begin to describe the relationship that Godric and I had shared in our two thousand years, but I decided against it. I did not want my conversation with Jessica to be marred by sadness as so many conversations with others had been. Talking to other vampires about Godric had only brought me pain. Isabel, his lieutenant and one of my most trusted friends, had been the only one to have given me the most comfort. I then made a mental note to talk to Isabel again for I had not spoken to her in a long while and I was curious as to what my good friend had been up to since we last spoke.

'Can I ask you something?' Jessica asked me in a curious tone as if she knew that she could be wandering into dangerous territory.

'Of course,' I said cheerfully. 'Ask away.'

'You're ... two thousand years old, right?'

'Thereabouts. I do not really like to think of my age. It makes me feel ... old.'

Jessica smiled, but the smile vanished too quickly for my liking as she continued; she was obviously en route to asking a question that she did not like and I was positive that I would not like it anymore than she did.

'Does ... does the bloodlust get easier to handle? With age, I mean. You must learn to control it sometime, right?'

I turned to face Jessica wholly, finding myself being taken back to a time I would rather forget about. I had to be honest with the little one. She was young and she knew only a few minor details of the world she had been brought into only a short length of time ago. I had been around for two millennia and I probably knew more about the vampire way of life than I did about my own human life.

'You really never learn to control the lust for blood, Jessica. That is the honest truth. Even at my age, I still find myself drawn to blood.'

'Yeah, but you're two thousand years old. Bill told me that the older a vampire gets, the less blood they need.'

'That is true, yes, but the primal urge is still there. Jessica, we are predators. It is a factor that none of us can get rid of or even hide. We are created by blood and blood is what sustains us. No matter how old a vampire may become, they will never be able to stand in a room full of humans without thinking once of their blood.'

Jessica, deep in thought, looked at me pleadingly. 'There must be some way, to contain it ... to control it.'

'Only years of patience and practice,' I admitted. 'It is doable, Jessica, remember that.'

'It's just impossible to do,' she remarked sadly, turning back to glimpse Hoyt smiling at her, oblivious to the talk of blood that us vampires had shared.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

The moments I had alone with Godric were precious for there were few times when I was ever alone with just him. Usually Cassius was with Godric, chattering away obliviously about something or another or I would be being attended by my own servants. However, I often felt his eyes on me from across the room and I dared to look up once or twice to catch a glimpse of those blue eyes gazing at me from afar. If the gods allowed me, I decided that I wanted his eyes to be the very last sight I saw before I left this earth. It was a strange, somewhat morbid thought, but it was a genuine thought that crossed my mind as I caught sight of those beautiful orbs.

'Miss Aurora?' one of my servants called my name and I hazily turned to her, noticing the bunch of arranged yellow flowers clasped in her hand. She handed them to me and I kept them at arms' length as the smell was overpowering and the colour was too bright for my eyes.

'Who gave you these, Amelia?'

Amelia answered, 'They are from Brutus Tiberius, my lady.'

'Again?' I asked, not hiding the distaste in my tone.

'It seems he plans to send them daily, my lady. He is quite taken with you.'

I scowled at this and handed the flowers to another attendant, who already knew what she was doing when she removed them from my sight. I hated these thoughtless tokens that he was sending me. They meant nothing to him and he believed that it would win me over. Brutus Tiberius was the son of another noble family who lived not far from us. He was one year older than Cassius and I and had often sparred with my brother when they were children, causing him an injury or two if my mind served me well. Now eighteen years of age, he was already planning to serve in the army like Cassius, but my brother was more quick-witted and wise than the foolish and inept Brutus. Rumours had been circulating for quite some time that he sought a young girl to marry. Unfortunately, the girl he sought had turned out to be me.

I stood then and bade my attendants away, knowing that they had other tasks to be getting on with. I watched Godric, who was cleaning Cassius' blade expertly, out of the corner of my eye as I poured myself some fresh wine. I touched the liquid to my lips, ready to sip it when I noticed Godric standing up with Cassius' blade, walking in my direction. Trying to calm my thudding heart, I turned on my heel to meet him as he held the sword out in front of him, obviously proud of his hard work.

'How long exactly have you been cleaning that?' I asked him curiously.

'Since dawn, my lady,' he answered obediently.

'My brother sets you exceedingly futile tasks.'

'He is to go training tomorrow and requires his best sword. I am only doing the job my master asks of me.'

I nodded at him, a smile tugging at my lips. Godric was loyal to his very core; there was neither a selfish nor narcissistic bone in his body. He knew that he was in a much better position than the majority of the slaves and he was grateful for the opportunity given to him. I gazed at him and knew that the greatest gift I could ever give this boy was his freedom, but I realised with a pang to my heart that only my father could do that and I was in no position to ask him of such a thing. Although my father cherished me dearly as the youngest of his children, I knew deep down that my main purpose in his eyes was to give him the heirs he desired, to make sure that the family line carried on for future generations. Maybe my life was not my own, only the well-thought out plans of someone else's design.

When I looked up, drifting from my thoughts, Godric had approached me, taking full advantage of this moment alone with me, and he was at my ear, whispering in a tone that made a shudder ripple through my body as though his very words caressed me with the most affectionate touch.

'Meet me outside your rooms after dark. Tell no-one. I have something to show you. _Only _you.'

* * *

><p>I could not take their delusional chanting any longer. I looked at Pam, my fangs retracted in my silent fury, my eyes steely and cold. There were no words that could describe my hatred of the Fellowship and each and every one of their brainwashed followers. They had kidnapped my Godric and were going to force him into the sun; little had I known then that had been his intention all along. I decided not to fixate on that fact even though it haunted me night after night; there were never days when I saw an advertisement for that heinous excuse for a church without wanting to rip off a head or two, preferably the one belonging to its deranged leader, Steve Newlin.<p>

I signalled to Pam with a gesture towards the backdoor that I was leaving and she nodded, turning back to Hoyt and Jessica. I knew then that the humans sure had a fight on their hands as they decided too that they had had enough and stepped outside. I however determined to take the subtle approach and slipped out of the back entrance, not wanting a confrontation with any of them. I waited outside in the dim night air, shutting off their chants and closing my mind to mull over thoughts that had been brewing in my mind whilst at the bar for quite some time.

I was thinking of the night Maria had died and I had been attacked by the anti-vampire protestors. I had collapsed outside of Fangtasia, only a short distance away from the door yet I had managed to end up inside, perfectly safe from the deadly beams of the sun. Someone must have carried me in. Someone had saved my life. But who? It certainly could not have been a vampire; they would have burned before they even made it to Fangtasia's door. It must have been another supernatural because it surely could not have been a ... However, as I thought it over, it could have possibly been a human. A human perhaps had taken pity on me – the injured vampire only seconds away from roasting in the sunrise – and had carried me inside. But who? Who did I owe my life to? Who had been the sole reason for me to stay alive – or in existence as it were – for another night?

'Excuse me,' said a voice from the other side of me.

I snapped my head around and my eyes zoned in on a young man around eighteen years old with light brown hair and eyes in the deepest brown shade I had ever seen. His face was tanned and youthful, full of the joys of life; his face was built on high cheekbones and a firm jaw. His hair was a dishwater blond, streaked with dashes of yellow and gold. He looked well-built from what my keen eyes could tell with strong muscles and he held himself in a stance that seemed ready to take action. However, the most striking thing about this boy was his eyes: they were the brightest and most electric blue I had ever seen. They reminded me of the sea in the middle of the day when it immerses itself in the rays of the sun; in two thousand years, I had not seen the sea during that time, only glimpsing the waters of the night – black and bathed in moonlight. They were not the eyes that I had once loved, but something about them fascinated me.

'What do you want?' I asked of him, rather sharply as I was slightly unnerved both by the incessant chanting and his presence.

The boy blinked, obviously not expecting that response. 'I'm sorry to trouble you.'

'You shouldn't be out here,' I warned him, folding my arms. 'With all these protestors, just being seen with me can get you hurt.'

'Just because you're a vampire?' he said and I froze at this. He took this opportunity to come closer to me and stood only a few metres away from me. 'That's ridiculous.'

'These times are ridiculous,' I agreed and made to leave, but he reached out and the tips of his fingers brushed my hand. I stopped and turned to look at him to see if he truly realized what he was doing, whether he was in his right mind. The sincere look in his eyes told me that he was truthful. I had had enough of this and turned my best icy glare on him, hoping to make the little boy run away in fear. 'What are you doing here? Did you come with them?'

'No, no. I didn't. I swear it.'

'Somehow I don't believe you,' I said and let my fangs extend slowly to show him that I was not joking. 'Are you afraid of me?'

'Why would I be afraid of you?'

'Because I could kill you in an instant and not think twice about it. I am a killer. I am a blood drinker. Humans have been afraid of me for centuries.'

'Why should that mean I have to be?' he queried.

I had grown tired of his valiant ways to show that he was brave enough to intimidate a vampire and turned to leave once more, preparing to take to the skies, ready to go home to Eric and forget about this insignificant human. Then, I heard it – barely a whisper, carried in the air like the abandoned, fallen leaves of autumn. It did not reach my ears until my feet had left the ground and I was in the air, but I heard it loud and clear as though it had been screamed at me. Six little words and my heart froze. The boy's words.

'_I'm not afraid of you, Aurora.'_


	21. Chapter 21

Rome

The house was quiet and still; neither movement nor sound was heard or seen. The flames of the candles had been doused and extinguished until the light of day streamed through the house the next morning. Under the veil of night and the illuminating glow of the moon, I waited for Godric, anxiously awaiting for him to appear at my door at any moment like some form of spirit. I had bade my servants goodnight and they had retired to their quarters whilst I lay there in the darkness, contemplating Godric's earlier words to me, said in hushed whispers, the very words that sent chills through me as if the temperature in the room had dropped severely. I could barely close my eyes even to imitate sleep should a servant enter my room; I was far too anxious that I would miss Godric's appearance, ridiculous as that seemed.

I thanked the gods then when I saw a flicker of a candle's flame before he appeared, his face hidden by the shadow of the travelling cloak he had over his head. He shot me a brief smile and beckoned me to come closer. I quickly put on my own cloak over my garments and found myself beaming back up at him, my eyes eagerly searching his for some clue as to where we were going.

'Are you ready, Aurora?' he asked me.

'I am, Godric,' I answered him truthfully. 'Where are we going?'

'Somewhere for us only, Aurora,' he whispered softly and offered me his hand which I took without a second's thought. The smile on his angelic face only seemed to get brighter as we crept away into the night to what I now tended to call our secret place.

It did not take us long to reach this sacred and mysterious place that Godric had found. He brought us to the very outskirts of the town, far from prying eyes and gossiping tongues, to where the mountains were – gigantic and powerful, almost majestic. The stars seemed even brighter to me on this night as I followed Godric, clasping his hand for fear of losing him. Deep within a hidden maze of rocks and trees was a collection of ruined stones set upon a stretch of grassland, covered in tiny specks of colour that were flowering buds of every shade and shape. Trees protected this sacred places, tall oaks shading it from view and ivy vines entwining around the stones, the ruins of a once great marble building, abandoned years ago and left to the wilful hands of nature. Seeing this place and everything in it caused thoughts to resurface and childhood memories playing around them with Cassius and Lucretia were at that very moment replaying in my mind. I had been here before, but as a child which now seemed like a lifetime ago, a completely different life to the one I had now.

Godric took both my hands now and led me to the middle of the grassland, the deserted meadow made only more beautiful by the night. 'Do you like it, Aurora?'

'I ... I do,' I murmured, taking in all the sights and smells I could in the seconds I had in answering his question. 'Godric, how did you know about this place?'

'Your brother. He rambles about a lot of things, but one point he did mention was that you used to come here as a child. You would spend blissful hours years with only him and your wild imagination.'

'But are you not worried that he will think to come here?'

'Cassius has more on his mind than the childhood places he keeps stored at the very back of his mind. I, on the other hand, believe that this place could mean something ... to me and to you.'

He released one of my hands to cup my cheek, his fingertips brushing lightly against my skin. I could feel my face flushing red but I was entranced by his hypnotic gaze.

'I realise that we have not spent any time at all in each other's company.'

'I know, Godric. You have your loyalties to my brother. He is your master.'

'Yes, but you are the reason that I am here. You, Aurora, are the reason that I am still alive. Had it not been for you ... I do not know how to thank you enough, not just for what you have done for me, but for my brother. I believe that you have been the making of me. I owe you – '

'Godric, you do not need to do this,' I said. 'I did only what a good person would have done.'

'But even an exceptional person would not have done as much as you have. You are truly the best thing that has ever happened to me.'

This struck a chord with me and I felt myself almost at the point of melting into his arms. His fingertips softly caressed my cheek and jaw, very nearly touching my lips as though it was a new way of kissing. I lifted my hand to mirror his actions, resting my hand on his cheek and feeling the soft flesh there. His eyes closed minimally for a moment as he felt my caress and when they opened to reveal the beautiful colour that had me entranced, he sighed lightly. Maybe this had been the most contact he had had with any person in a long time. Maybe no one had looked at him the way I did or touched him as lovingly as I did now. He must have been used to only cruelty and the harshness of the world; this could be the only loving thing he had known in so long.

It was then that my mind had been made up. Be it a sin or a crime, I did not care. People would stare and point and say shameful things about us, but I did not care what they thought. I cared only about him and I knew that these feelings would never be erased, that they would never diminish, not for a second.

I was in love with Godric.

* * *

><p>Eric was waiting for me as soon as I threw open the doors of his house. Both angered and mystified in equal quantities, I stalked down the hallway, my eyes narrowed and dark, my hands clenched at my sides in violent fists, my fangs out ready for a kill. I cast my eyes to every corner of the house, eager to find something to take my mind off everything, to liberate it from the questions running through my mind. I stopped myself and my pacing through the house, finding myself needing to sit down and think things through in my crowded brain. Seeing the staircases and the small ledge where they were connected, I found my thinking place; I tensed on the balls of my feet and leapt up into the air in one single soaring motion. My right hand clasped the banister, enough to hold my weight but not enough to bend or break it, and I twisted myself so that I was sat on the ledge, my legs dangling and mimicking the childlike activity. I ran my fingers through my hair and let my fangs retract, relaxing as much as I possibly could.<p>

Who did this boy think he was? Talking to me as though I was human, as if he knew me ... He knew my name! How did he know my name? He could not have possibly known it. I trusted those close to me with my identity, the sole thing that had stayed with me for two millennia. How could a human boy know me?

'Aurora, what are you doing up there?'

I tensed as I found Eric directly in front of me, arms folded and one eyebrow raised in confusion. I edged myself off the ledge and dropped down to the floor, landing on my feet a few feet in front of him. He pulled me into his arms and lightly kissed my forehead. I leaned in and heaved a sigh against his leather jacket.

'Did you have a good night at Fangtasia?' he murmured, resting his head on mine.

'I guess you didn't hear about the anti-vampire protestors then,' I said, looking up at my brother.

'Oh, I did. I just expected you to have a little ... fun with them.'

I raised one eyebrow. 'Fun? With those egotistical, ridiculous bible bashers? I don't think so, _bror_.'

'Pam called me and told me that you had left. I came here to see if you were all right.'

'I'm fine, Eric,' I lied. 'I'm perfectly fine.'

Eric released me and held my shoulders at arms' length, his cold blue eyes locked in a gaze with mine. I held my own and kept cool, calmly staring at my brother in some sort of childish mind game.

'I can tell when you're lying, Aurora. I get this snide little feeling in the back of my mind whenever you lie.'

'Here's an idea, Eric – ignore it,' I teased and smiled at him, watching in glee as his own lips broke into a smile.

'Well, I have something to take your mind off whatever it is you're hiding from me. Maybe after you see this, you can find it in yourself to confide in me ... '

I grinned at my brother and took his offered hand, proceeding to climb one of the long staircases together. He led me mischievously – although Eric could never really be seen as 'mischievous', it was the only word I could think of to describe the way in which he was acting. He led me down one of the grand hallways and stopped in front of a door I had never entered. I shot Eric a look and he let go of my hand, now gesturing towards the door. I could feel the slightest hint of excitement radiating from him so to please him, I reached for the door handle and turned it an inch before looking back at Eric teasingly.

'Are you going to tell me what I'm going to find behind this door?'

'Just open it and see, will you?' he laughed.

I did as he did and opened the door fully. I then found myself in a room of Eric's that I had never encountered before in the time I had known him. It was a large room, around the size of some apartments I had spent time in over the decades; I did not even think for a moment that this could be the largest room in the whole house. The walls were cream, a colour I had seen countless times during the Renaissance, and the wall directly opposite and the one furthest away from me was merely a large window, overlooking the vast and sprawling grounds of the house. Against the wall was a magnificent four poster bed, draped in luxury silks and fabrics, existing only to add to the lustre of the whole room. There were only a few items here – a grand wardrobe, a white vanity mirror and a bookcase filled to the brim with volumes of classics I had collected. Eric had had some of my things brought here – my books and, as I discovered on making my way to the wardrobe, my clothes. I turned to gaze around the room before my eyes fell on my brother who watched me in pride and fascination.

'Do you like it?' he murmured as he strolled over to me.

'You ... did this ... for _me_?' I whispered almost breathlessly, my surprise unimaginable.

He nodded sincerely. 'You didn't answer my question, Aurora. Do you like it?'

'I love it, Eric,' I murmured. 'But wait ... why did you do this for me? What about my house?'

'Aurora, you're my sister and I won't let another human harm you, not while I'm around. Here you're safe. Here I can protect you.'

'Eric, I don't need protecting.'

'I know that, but it will put my mind at ease knowing you are safe and sound here rather than at risk by some foolish, weapon-wielding mortals out there. The world is much more dangerous than it used to be.'

I nodded mournfully, casting my eyes to the ground. 'Our kind wanted to emerge from hiding, to live as equals with the creatures we have preyed on for thousands of years. And now, they turn on us. What I wouldn't give to go back to the old days when we were the work of fiction and myth ... '

'But even then, we had to keep our existence secret,' Eric pointed out. 'We had to lie and deceive. I for one like being out in the open, even in this current climate.' He then reached for my hands, holding them tightly. 'So do you accept my offer? Will you live here with Pam and I?'

'For how long?' I asked him curiously.

'For as long as you want. Forever, if you want.'

The word 'forever' struck a chord with me and I felt tears collecting in my eyes. Godric had told me forever too. He had promised me that we would be together for the rest of eternity. Things certainly had not gone as planned for my love and I, but maybe it would be different between Eric and I, the siblings brought together by the grief of our beloved maker.

'I'll have to think about forever,' I said and smiled at him. 'But yes, I'd love to.'

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

Godric and I lay there in our safe, perfect haven, facing the stars and night above us. He lay close to me so that his fingers brushed against mine on occasion and our heads were within millimetres of touching. Every few minutes or so, I could feel his eyes flicker to me with a smile and I tried to refrain from blushing, keeping my eyes on the night sky and smiling softly almost in response to his own beam.

'I used to lie on this grassland at home,' he murmured, 'watching the stars, just revelling in the peace and quiet. And every night, I would think of what someone else thought while watching the same stars I was seeing.'

'An interesting thought,' I agreed. 'The thought that someone else is watching the stars like you are ... '

Godric's fingers entwined with mine and I felt a spark of electricity travel from my fingertips to the rest of my body. I turned to look at him and I saw the look on his boyish face – he looked at me as if I was a star from the very heavens he had watched night after night.

'A soul mate perhaps ... ' he whispered without taking his eyes off mine.

For a few seconds, we gazed at each other before our eyes trailed elsewhere – Godric's focused on the stars once more whereas mine trailed down Godric's body, noticing his tattoos. Intricate and each a different style, I could help but want to trace them with my finger like I was drawing them myself. He caught me staring at him and looked down at his body art before turning back to me.

'Do you like the markings?' he asked me.

'I have never seen anything like them. No man I have ever seen has anything like that.'

'And what do you think of them?' he murmured, obviously expecting a negative answer.

To show him that I meant no insult to him, I reached across and outlined the markings on his left forearm – dark zigzags encircling his limb - with my fingertip, slowly and delicately. Godric watched me do this with a fascinated expression, his eyes eagerly following my finger.

'I think they are beautiful,' I said in a faint whisper.

Godric then glanced up at me and we got ourselves into a sitting position, letting go of each other's hand. I sat facing him, keenly awaiting the story I knew was coming from the look on his face. He heaved a short sigh before gesturing to the one I had been tracing. His own finger went over the marking as if trying to retrace the path my own had taken.

'This one ... It symbolizes water ... the water where I was born. I lived by the sea ... ' His hand moved to the tattoo on his right arm now – runes in an ancient language I had never seen before. 'This one is a message ... it tells of the good life I will have and how I shall prosper ... I suppose its words have not yet come into effect.' Finally, he gestured to the circular tattoo around his neck that looked like some form of necklace. 'This is a symbol of protection. It was bestowed on me when I became a warrior.'

'You were a warrior?' I asked and he nodded earnestly. 'That explains how you know so much about war and fighting ... '

'My father was one of the best warriors in our village and when I came of age, it became my duty to join him in protecting our people from invaders. I did not take life often, but when I did, it was only to protect myself or one of my people. I am nothing if not honourable.'

I waited a while before asking him a question that I knew I had to know the answer. My lips formed what I wanted to say, but it took a little while for the words to be physically forced from them. 'How ... how did you come to Rome?'

'As a slave, you mean?' he said in a bitter tone.

'I – I did not mean that,' I said quickly, looking to the ground away from him. 'Forgive me if I have insulted you.'

There was silence for a moment before I felt his cupped fingers under my chin lifting my head up to face him. His face was awash with so many different emotions but the faint smile on his lips told me that he had not been insulted at all.

'Aurora,' he whispered my name as though it was the holiest of prayers, 'how could you ever insult me?'

His fingers left my chin and I relaxed my tense body, watching him curiously as he lay back down on the grass, staring at me with an uplifting smile. It did not take me long to join him, lying closer to him than before, resting my head on his shoulder now, my eyes fixed on him as I waited for his tale. I prepared myself for the worst – the life of a slave was one story that was best served for those who had experienced it themselves, not someone like me who had never gone through anything like that. I could neither sympathise nor pretend to know what he had been through. I could only listen and take heed of his words as best I could.

'My father and the elders of the village had heard rumours of Romans searching for people to take back to their city as slaves. We were foolish and naive enough to believe that these were just rumours. It was ridiculous to believe that they would never come, to believe that they were going to pass over us like a dark cloud and not trouble us at all. It turned out that this mistake would cost us dear.

'They came for us in the winter. Hundreds of them, dressed in blood red and the silver of their metal armour. The only sounds in the air were the clink of swords and the screams of my people. My mother, Sweyn and I were in the house when the screaming began. My father had been out hunting and we knew when we heard the sobs and the mournful cries that the men had been killed. My mother put Sweyn in my arms and told me to run and hide. I took my sword with me and brought down as many as I could before escaping into the woodland near our village. I hid in the forage, camouflaged by leaves and vines, invisible to the invader's eyes. I stayed silent, barely even breathing. Sweyn managed to remain quiet, sensing the need to do so. I watched from afar as they dragged my mother out of our hut and when she resisted ... '

Godric took a breath and I saw tears in his eyes. I closed my own and said a silent prayer for the soul of his poor mother, slaughtered as she did what she could to protect her children. After a few seconds, Godric brought himself to continue his story, his voice thick with emotion suppressed for so long.

'Sweyn and I witnessed our mother die. No children should ever witness that. Naturally, when Sweyn saw our mother fall, he began to cry and wail for her. I tried to calm him and keep him quiet, but it was already too late. They heard his cries and found us within seconds. Then, they hauled us to the others and we set off for Rome.

'I did what I had to keep Sweyn safe. I owed it to my dead parents to keep him safe and alive, to protect him during our wretched ordeal. I stole food from the soldiers when they were not being watchful to give to him. During the cold nights, I would give him the clothes off my own back to keep him warm. I did what I could to help my brother. Night after night, he wept for our mother and for our father. I tried every means to stop his tears, but I always found that they only seemed to bring out tears of my own.'

He then sat up and lifted off his shirt to reveal two more tattoos – one that reminded me of a great sea serpent, gliding down his spine and a red circle on his right shoulder blade. He turned to me again and I saw his torso in all its glory, although I was still entranced in his story to take much notice of his body.

'The red circle? It is a brand. A slave brand. The soldiers laughed when they brought the poker to my skin to carve this in. And your people call _me _a barbarian ... One night, the slaves were being taken to the coffle from the market. Sweyn and I had managed to stay out of sight and not be bought, not be separated. As we walked, Sweyn noticed something that attracted his eye and he wandered off for a while as only a curious child would. The soldiers mistook this for escaping and grabbed him, threatening to brand him as a runaway. I tried to state that he was only a child, but they did not listen to me. Therefore to save my little brother from the pain, I urged them to brand me instead. So they did.'

I sat up too and placed my hand on Godric's shoulder, his face lost in memories twisted by grief and pain. My free hand took his cheek and brought his face to mine, only inches away.

'Godric, you must be the bravest and most loyal man I have ever met. You astound and you amaze me. I cannot think of a better person to have in my household ... to have as a friend.'

Only I thought of him as more than a friend. I wanted him to be more. I wanted nothing more than to be with him, to erase his pain-stricken memories with happy ones of our own. I wanted to be with him forever.

'You forgot that I am your protector also,' he murmured. 'And I will stay with you, Aurora. I could not think of a better way to spend my life than with you, in your service.'

'Forever?' I offered, taking his hand.

'Forever,' he agreed with a smile that seemed to make the whole night brighter.


	22. Chapter 22

As many a vampire could possibly tell you, being bored is not something we take lightly. When you are bestowed with immortality – a gift or a curse, depending on your own view of it – you need to find things to distract yourself and to fill your endless amounts of time with. Blood and killing obviously is a popular choice but when you reach my age, killing is not as desirable as it once was; also, due to the fact that humans now knew of our existence, we could not kill and cover up our crimes as easily as we had done in the past. But now there was no other phrase that could better describe my mood and situation – I was bored out of my mind.

I was sitting in Eric's office of Fangtasia, having vacated his house at his behest when he had been summoned out of the blue by the King. My feet on the desk and leaning back in the leather seat, I settled for counting the number of Tru Blood bottles on the shelves next to the wall. I huffed out a sigh and rolled my eyes before allowing my lids to droop in a mere imitation of sleep. Only it seemed someone was all too eager to interrupt my quiet time as I discovered upon hearing the small click of the door and a exasperated sigh coated in a fine layer of irritation and sarcasm.

'You've been sitting here for hours,' Pam said, the sound of her heels growing louder as she stalked closer, stopping once she reached the desk.

'I have nothing to do,' I answered her plainly and opened my eyes to see my niece towering over me in a slinky red dress, her hair straight and to one side, her lips a scarlet red. One of her eyebrows was raised and she looked on the verge of coming out with another one of her famous one-liners.

'And you came here just to sit there like the Queen of Sheba?' she said. 'Go out there. The bar's heaving tonight. Make yourself useful and do some advertising.'

It was my turn to roll my eyes in the dramatic and over-emphasised way that she did. 'Advertising,' I scoffed. 'Those people do not need this place advertising to them. They need their heads checking ... They came here of their own accord. For what reason I can scarcely say ... '

Pam's head tilted to the side as she tutted at me, our roles of aunt and niece now reversed for one moment. 'What was I thinking? You're possibly the worse advocate for this bar I could imagine.'

'I may just have to agree with you on that, Pamela,' I grinned at her. 'I'll just stay in here and do ... something.'

Pam turned to walk away and I silently rejoiced at the prospect of the exit of my sarcastic niece, but sadly, my joy was extinguished when she turned on her heel to face me again, pointing one manicured finger at me as a sly grin appeared on her face.

'By the way, if you do happen to step outside for just a minute, you may find someone rather ... intriguing ... '

My tone became suspicious as I stood then, making my way towards her. 'What are you on about, Pam?'

Pam's eyes diverted away from me and to a probably invisible spot on her nails. 'Oh, nothing. You're probably too busy sulking in here. Forget I said anything.'

'Pamela Swynford de Beaufort,' I said in a cold, Eric-like voice, 'tell me now.'

She was taken aback slightly, showing this by blinking once or twice before collecting herself and smirking. 'My, my, I'd forgotten how much you were like Eric 'til just now.'

'Pamela ... '

'All right, all right,' she said as if this was a great task. 'I'll tell you, shall I?' She deliberated for a few seconds, knowing how much it irritated me and then began her tale. 'I was minding my own business at the door when all of a sudden, this ... rather delicious young man comes up to me. Sure, I thought he was after my services and company, but no, he kept jabbering on about some girl he met here the other night ... '

I froze at this moment. Surely this was merely a coincidence. This could not be the boy from the other night. It couldn't be.

'Eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime of him going on and on, he got to the interesting part. He said something about ... your name. He asked specifically for you, Aurora.'

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

'You sing like an angel,' Godric remarked to me after my music tutor had left for the day. He had been present for much of my lesson, claiming to have been drawn away from his duties by my voice.

'An angel that has been trained to sing like that since she could speak,' I told him, settling down by the fountain in the courtyard. 'It was always my mother's wish for me to be educated in all the arts as it was my father's wish for Cassius to be educated in logic and in war.'

Godric's expression darkened upon the mention of war. 'Has your father been to war?'

I nodded. 'Long before he married and became a father. He went to war and has never spoken of it once to anyone. It was terrible ... Then, he became betrothed to my mother and had Lucretia and then, Cassius and I came along. My mother ... '

Pain flickered across my face and I looked away at the mention of my mother, tears from long ago filling my eyes. Godric took my hand in his, his fingers caressing the skin of my hand which now tingled at his touch.

'Are you close to your father?' he murmured softly as though he already knew the sensitive subject he had touched upon. Had someone else asked me this question, I would have hesitated to answer them and would not have been truthful, but as this person I was confiding in was Godric, someone who I trusted more than anything, I was honest even though answering him was just as difficult.

'My father ... my father sees me as a possession, much more than a daughter. He has protected me and watched over me, but I feel that he is only readying me for the life I am to have someday.'

'And what life is that?'

'The usual one of every woman in Rome. I will be married off to a man of my father's choosing, I will become the mistress of a grand house which I will manage and I will bear my husband heirs.'

'That will be it? Your whole life?'

I nodded mournfully. 'The most terrible part is that ... I do not even have a say in what happens. I do not choose my husband, I do not choose my life ... Godric, what is a life without the ability to choose for myself?'

'What about love?' he whispered then, drawing ever closer to me.

'Love? Love is not an option, I am certain of it.'

His eyes closed for a moment before locking with mine in a deep and meaningful gaze. 'What if you fell in love? Then, what would your options be?'

I let myself go closer towards him, our lips within inches yet again. 'There would only be one option then. I would follow love ... I would follow _him _... '

We drew nearer and nearer, my heart ready to burst through my chest, but he withdrew at the last second before our lips could meet. I admit that I was stung at this sudden retraction, but I saw the real reason as one of my maids walked in, carrying a piece of cloth. I stood then and went to greet her, my face flushed and my heart only beginning to slow down its hearty dance.

'My lady,' she said, dipping her head respectfully, 'this came for you.'

'May I ask who sends me such a mysterious item?'

The girl looked to her feet at first before revealing my admirer, which I had no suspicions of. 'I believe it is from Brutus Tiberius.'

I gritted my teeth and bade the girl away, reluctantly taking the piece of material from her as she scurried away. Without removing my eyes from it, I turned to walk back to Godric, but curiosity got the better of me and I opened it. Lying there was a bracelet made of gold, beset with pearls and beads of green glass. I took it out and held it against a harsh candle flame; the beads and the gold chain glinted in the light, showing that this was not just a small indifferent token. His constant gifts to me were getting more expensive and irritating by the day.

'He's determined to have you, you know,' Godric said in a voice that was soaked in bitterness.

I placed the bracelet where I knew a servant would eventually find it and returned to my seat next to him. I watched his eyes that had hardened upon the arrival of the bracelet soften as I touched his hand gently and he glanced at me.

'He will not have me, I can assure you of that.'

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly to show a hint of a grin. 'You are so sure of this ... but you yourself said that you had no choice in who you marry.'

It was my turn to grin at him and the mischievous smile on my face only seemed to grow when it mystified him. 'It is a blessed thing then that my father believes that despite his vast wealth and the future he can offer me, he is considered to not be the right material for my husband. My father loves me just enough to consider that.'

At the mention of this rival never having a chance to marry me, I could not help but notice that Godric was a little pleased with himself.

* * *

><p>With Pam all but shoving me out of the office door, I emerged, masked by the shadows, and saw him standing there by the bar, not affected at all by the fangbangers and the tourists. He stood out from the rest of them because it was evident from his facial expression and his body language that he alone had a purpose for being here even though it frightened him out of his wits to be standing in a vampire bar. He did not come here to die, to have his blood taken or to have sexual relations with any of the undead patrons here tonight. He just fiddled with his fingers or his drink and stared dead in front of him, trying not to be distracted by the raucous goings on.<p>

I thought it best not to sneak up on him and put him even more on edge so I decided to calmly walk up and stand next to him, my eyes fixed on the same spot that his own were trained at. After a few moments of silence, he glanced at me and those eyes widened in surprise.

'Aurora,' he almost exclaimed.

'What are you doing here, _boy_?' I said in a clipped voice. 'Need I remind you of the warning I gave you the other night?'

'I don't remember a warning,' he pointed out.

'Humans,' I murmured, rolling my eyes. 'You remember what you want to remember. Didn't it occur to you to read between the lines of what I was saying? I am a vampire. You are a human. I am a killer.'

'And I'm bait, I get it,' he said irritably, running one hand through his hair. 'I understand the whole 'dangerous' thing, but ... I had to see you.'

'This is dangerous, for both of us. Besides, I don't even know who you are or how you know me and that is starting to push my buttons far too much.'

'Well, aren't you curious?'

'Curiosity killed the cat, remember that, human?'

He smiled, engaging in our battle of wits easier than I had anticipated. 'But vampires are much smarter than cats, aren't they? At least that's what I've read.'

I groaned slightly and grabbed an unattended bottle of Tru Blood from the counter, easing off the cap with my nail. 'Please don't tell me that everything you know about vampires are from websites and strange little chatrooms.'

He looked away sheepishly. 'Well, not all of it, just some. Half the things there aren't even true. You can't turn into a bat for instance.'

'Now that one has been unnerving me for centuries,' I said, sipping the drink and discovering it to be A-Negative. 'Just because some deluded Irishman wrote it down in one book, the whole world starts to think we can shape-shift. Ridiculous ... '

'No, you just leave that to the shifters.'

I was startled by this and stared at him, one eyebrow raised in scepticism. 'You know about shifters?'

He nodded proudly. 'Of course. One of my best friends is a Were.'

'As in ... he's a werewolf or a regular shifter?'

'Yeah, he's a werewolf.'

My expression soured and I went back to my drink. I had too many rough experiences with those foul, mangy dogs that the exact number could not be totalled. It was a general and accepted truth that we vampires did not get on famously with werewolves, but I, in particular, had reasons to despise their kind, with a few rare exceptions.

The boy sensed the tension due to the mention of werewolves and decided that it would be best to change the subject, bringing the conversation full circle to where we had started.

'I guess you still want to know how I know things about you.'

I looked up at his youthful face and searched it for answers. He could belong to the Fellowship or some form of vampire-hating group; he could be luring me into some sort of trap, the very same trap that Godric had willingly walked into. However, looking at his eyes, round and innocent, I could see that he did not want to hurt me – he simply wished to talk with me and share what he knew.

I slowly nodded and he turned fully round to face me, a small smile tugging at his lips.

'Well, first off, my mom's rule of thumb is to always introduce yourself properly.' He stretched out his hand for me. 'I'm Leo Bennett.'

I slowly reached out my own hand and grasped his in a firm handshake. I released his hand and he continued swiftly on, taking a sip of his water before continuing.

'You know, I'm just your average guy. I'm seventeen, in my last year of high school, going to Yale or Harvard or any college that's far away from my parents. I've had girlfriends over the past years, but nothing serious. I have friends and I'm a trustworthy kind of guy. I help people. If I see someone hurt or in need of anything, I'll do it. It's just the way I am. But like every other kid in this country, I've had it drilled into me over the past year that vampires are now not our friends, our equals and that we should be afraid of them. Hell, I've had teachers telling us that if we ever see a vampire, we should do our duty and stake them without a second thought.'

I hesitated at this, wondering where he could be going with this, but the boy – Leo – did not give me a second.

'So when I was wandering around here in the early hours of the morning and I saw someone lying on the ground, I thought I'd help you. I'll go ahead and admit it now. When I saw you were ... a vampire, I thought about helping you. I'm sorry, but I did.'

'Hold on a second,' I said. 'It was _you_? You were the one who carried me in out of the sunlight and into here? You saved my life?'

He nodded sincerely. 'Yes, Aurora. I couldn't just let you die.'

'I've died before and I could do it again.'

'You're very pessimistic about dying.'

'I'm a vampire. Death is something that we have evaded and can therefore joke about.'

He snorted in humour and looked at me again. 'I came here to try and talk to you. Ever since I brought you here, I wanted to know you. You ... you kinda fascinate me. I know how creepy that sounds, but I'd like to get to know you. Maybe a friend?'

'I don't have human friends,' I said coldly.

'Why's that?'

My eyes and my voice took on one of Eric's famous cold turns. 'Humans are delicate, breakable. After a while, you can get attached to them, used to having them around. And then once they're hurt, you ... you get hurt too.'

He reached forward and lifted my chin up to face him and his round, innocent eyes. 'I'll be careful then.'

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, dear readers - I've been so busy with school work and trips. Before anyone asks, I'll be clear - LEO AND AURORA ARE NOT GOING TO GET TOGETHER! I thought about it at first, but then her only love was and always will be Godric. They are strictly friends, but it doesn't mean that Leo can't get a stupid idea stuck in his head ... READ AND REVIEW!**


	23. Chapter 23

'So you're ... two thousand years old?'

I grimaced jokingly and nodded. Leo seemed astounded by this and the fact that his eyes were now scanning my face for any clues as to my age was slightly unnerving. Humans could be given the truth and yet not believe it for one second; they always look for proof and evidence, not being satisfied with the facts until they have them.

'But you look about sixteen, seventeen,' he murmured, taking another sip of his drink as his brain mulled this over.

'I was nearly seventeen when I was made a vampire,' I told him.

'So you stay the same age when you were made? You don't change at all?'

I looked down at my delicate frame and shook my head. 'Well, not that I've noticed anyway. No, you do not change.'

'Well, you must do. Not physically, but ... emotionally. You can't go two thousand years without maturing, in your mind.'

I raised an eyebrow; for a human, he was quick-witted and he understood the complications of the aging process of vampires, a process that took me many years to fully comprehend.

'I think so. For me, I've matured and grown wiser than I ever had in life, but deep inside ... '

'You're still sixteen,' he finished for me. 'And your life kinda stopped being normal after that.'

I nodded sadly and reached for my Tru Blood, another clear reminder of exactly why my life was not normal. I had never planned for any of what had happened; I never planned on immortality, living forever, but then again, who does? Pam did not know of any different until the chance to live again had been offered to her by my brother; even Eric knew his own path when Godric made him and was ready to face death. I knew that my life would involve Godric and I knew that from the very moment I laid eyes on him. I just imagined a simple life of my time – a home with a family all of our own. Maybe vampirism had been the life I was meant to lead, seeing as I wanted more than the usual life of a Roman woman. I wanted so much more and that had been what I received.

'What does Tru Blood taste like?' Leo asked curiously, staring at the bottle grasped in my hand.

'Leo, think it through. What do you _think_ it tastes like?' I teased him.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. 'I know it tastes like blood, but ... does it match up? You know ... is it the same?'

I contemplated my answer for a few seconds before handing it to him. 'It's like ... a substitute. Rather like tofu for vegetarians.'

'My sister was a vegetarian for like a month,' he said, 'but then, she ate a hotdog by accident and there was drama in the house for another month. So now she eats meat like it's going out of fashion.'

I smiled at this touching human memory; I had lost many of mine when I was turned, but I clung to the precious ones that were left behind in my mind for fear of losing them like all the rest.

'So you have a sister?' I gathered.

'Yeah, Lauren's nineteen. And my brother, Ryan, he's twenty-one.'

'And are you close?'

'I tend to stay away from Lauren. She's the typical queen bee, manipulative, stubborn, all the things you could possibly think of in that stereotype. Ryan, on the other hand, is the best brother I could have asked for. He takes care of me, protects me.'

An image of my own brother and I flashed before my eyes and I shut them instinctively and without thinking. Leo noticed this and lightly touched my hand, driving away the bad memories that appeared just as quickly as the good ones.

'Hey, are you okay?' he asked me in a concerned voice.

'Yes,' I answered in a clipped voice. 'I'm fine. Just ... memories, that's all. When you're as old as I am and you've been through so much ... pain ... they tend to hurt you more ... '

Leo did not say anything else and remained quiet, almost pensive, for a few minutes. I opened my eyes slowly at long last and saw him, his eyebrows fused together in understanding, his eyes darkened with some tragic emotion I could not make out.

'Listen to me,' I murmured. 'Getting all emotional about things that happened two millennia ago. It makes me feel so ... so ... '

'Human?' he offered with a hint of a smile.

'I was going for 'helpless', but I guess I can go with 'human'.'

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

'I have news for you, my dearest Cassius and Aurora,' my father, Lucius, announced after supper one evening, about two weeks after the conversation Godric and I had shared about my role in my family. The fact that I was of less value than my twin became clear to me when my father greeted Cassius first upon entering the room and then at me. Still, I could not help but smile up at my father as he gently kissed me on the forehead, brushing a stray hair away from my face.

'What kind of news, Father?' Cassius asked curiously.

'Pray, it is good,' I added, grinning at my brother and then innocently smiling back up at my father.

'It is good, possibly the best news I have received all month,' he said, waiting until the excitement in the air was too thick to be controlled before revealing the news. 'Your sister is with child.'

The smile on my face only grew wider and I thanked the gods for providing my sister with a child after a few months of marriage.

'Joyous news indeed, Father,' Cassius said, grinning widely and glanced at me. 'You shall be an aunt, Aurora.'

'If she is not a mother first,' my father said, almost to himself.

The mood dampened and I held back the storming rage I felt at that moment. It irked him that I was not yet married and with children of my own; it made him feel like a failure, but he could not even begin to understand how this made _me _feel. He did not know that his comments and constant reminders of my unmarried state hurt me, cutting me deeper than any other words. It was against everything I myself believed in, to be married to someone that he chose for me, but his reminders that I was slowly failing him as a daughter were more than I could bear. I glanced up at my father with a careful expression as not to give my emotions away. Tears formed in my eyes in anger at this, but I kept them at bay, storing them for a time when I was allowed to cry, away from him and in the solitude I craved.

'I am to organize a celebration here in her honour,' my father obliviously went on. 'And of course in honour of my first grandchild. The next in the Soranus line. I have a great deal to ready for this event. I shall see you two tonight.'

With that, he went away, a flurry of servants answering his call as he yelled orders around the house. Once he was safely out of earshot, Cassius and I relaxed into our normal demeanour and he came closer to me, sensing my fury and sadness at my father's comment. He cupped my cheek to check for any more tears and I rested my head on his shoulder, allowing only a few to fall now in the presence of my twin.

'You should not weep on such a day as this, sister,' he said after a few moments of silence. 'Today is a celebration as Father said.'

'Must he always imply that I am a disappointment?' I whispered sadly.

'Aurora, dear sister, you are certainly not the disappointment. You have your whole life ahead of you. You could turn out to be the greatest of all the family.'

I let out a laugh. 'And this is coming from the eager war hero.'

Cassius chuckled then. 'When I come back from war, I will have such stories to tell my beloved sister who I have always been proud of. Take no notice of Father. You know what he is like. He says things before he thinks about them and the consequences.'

'He frightens me sometimes,' I admitted quietly.

'He frightens us all at one time or another. But he is our father and he loves us dearly. And if anything happens, I will protect you, always have and always will.'

* * *

><p>I had spent a good two hours talking with Leo and it had made all the difference. I was no longer bored, thank heavens, and it sounded corny, but I had made a friend. Leo gave me genuine smiles and listened intently to me, hanging on my every word, his expressions amusing and foretelling each emotion passing through his brain. He was enjoying my company and I was enjoying his. It had been the first time I had been able to relax around anyone, to be the teenager that appearances and immortality deemed that I be. I glanced at Leo when he was busying himself with his mobile phone, at his youthful face illuminated by the garish light of the contraption. He had his whole life ahead of him, just as I did. I then remembered that he was human, a fragile and breakable human. Humans could get hurt. Humans could die. It was better not to grow attached to them, to care for them ...<p>

'Ah, shoot,' he murmured under his breath.

'What is it?'

'I'm out past curfew. Ryan's just texted me. My mom's going nuts back home.' He stood up then. 'I'd best be off home or else she'll come looking for me.'

'And find you in the company of a vampire,' I chuckled.

'That would give her the aneurism the doctors have been anticipating.'

We made our way across the bar towards the exit, where I was brushed against by a blonde in a waitress uniform who stomped her way towards the office. I raised an eyebrow at her raging pace and shook my head in amusement as we left Fangtasia and stepped out in the cold night air. I could see the breath emitted from Leo's lips as he rubbed his hands together before glancing at me.

'Aren't you cold?' he asked me.

I shook my head. 'I don't feel the cold.'

He grimaced, remembering. 'Ah, right. Another vampire thing.'

I nodded and he walked closer to me, holding out his jacket to put around my shoulders. I shuffled backwards away from him, hesitant as to what he was doing, but he smiled softly.

'It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to give you my jacket.'

'But ... I don't feel the cold,' I whispered.

'I know that, but it's the gentlemanly thing to do, isn't it?'

'Even when the lady can't feel the chill?'

'Even then,' he laughed and draped his jacket over my shoulders.

Grateful and touched by this gesture, proving to me once again that chivalry was not yet dead in this day and age, I wriggled inside it and looked up at him, his eyes fixed on mine, his hot breath tickling my face.

'Thank you,' he said.

'For what?'

'For proving that vampires are different, that despite all the blood-drinking and the living forever and the ... the teeth ... ' I let my fangs retract to prove his point and he touched the tip of one of them lightly as he continued. ' ... you're just a normal person.'

'Thanks,' I chuckled.

'Can I see you again?' he asked politely.

'Sure, you can. I'm here most nights, thanks to my brother.'

He smiled then and nodded, this information now being stored in his mind. 'I'll remember that. If my parents don't ground me for the rest of my life for going to a vampire bar.'

'Here's a thing you could do – _lie_.'

He gasped in a mockingly shocked way. 'Look what you're doing to me: corrupting me into lying to my parents.'

'What can I say? A vampire's not exactly a great model.'

We laughed together and the laughter dissolved into silence in a natural time. Leo glanced at me and then at my lips. I could see the cogs in his brain whirring as he came up with his next move. He neared me, his lips only millimetres away from mine, about to kiss me. I could not stop him; he seemed determined to plant a kiss on me. Using my agility and skill, I avoided him and he fell a little forwards, kissing only the night air. He turned to face me, his face reddened in embarrassment, looking away from me.

'I'm ... I'm sorry.'

'You tried to kiss me,' I said. 'Why did you try to kiss me?'

'I don't know. It just sort of ... popped into my head. I just ... I wanted to kiss you. Well ... now I've just made everything sufficiently awkward.'

The solution entered my head quickly enough and I took his face in my hands, bringing his eyes to face mine.

'Allow me,' I murmured and barely needed to concentrate as I turned to glamour him. His eyes became still and his face relaxed as if he was merely asleep. I lowered my voice to a soft, commanding tone, my stare unyielding and cold, free of any needless emotion. 'You will forget about trying to kiss me. The action did not even cross your mind. We will meet again, Leo Bennett. Until then, you know where to find me.'

I blinked, ending the trance before rising to the rooftop and watching him eagerly. I saw him blink a few times and then look around in search of me; when he discovered that I was nowhere to be seen, he started on his way. I smiled at him before deciding to return home and thought of when I would next encounter this intriguing human ... my new friend.


	24. Chapter 24

Rome

My family was notorious for their esteemed connections and the ability to have influence and power wherever they chose to go. It was therefore unsurprising that on the night of the celebrations for my sister's unborn child, there were as many guests as my father could have possibly fitted into the house. As per my duty being the only woman in the house, I was given the task of arranging the food and entertainment for the evening by my father who busied himself with the guest list. Cassius offered to help but soon became distracted as he usually did and floated off somewhere, leaving me to do everything by myself. After living with Lucretia for so long and having her as the eldest girl in the family doing this kind of thing instead of me, it was needless to say that I was like a fish out of water. However, the servants were helpful and having organized and prepared for hundreds of parties for my family over the years, they knew exactly what to do and I only had to give my say on what they did. It was a stinging reminder that one day, I would have to learn these things for myself when I was the mistress of my own house. I put that thought to the back of my mind and settled for looking forward to the celebration.

My father's guest list did not disappoint. Family members and friends from afar had come together to celebrate the joyous news. I was the dutiful daughter and smiled, greeted, chatted with and thanked every single person who entered my house before they disappeared into the forming crowds, the noise in the room a cacophonous and merry clash of voices and music. A few hours later, there was more people in my house than I cared to have. I felt claustrophobic and enclosed in such a tight space. I found myself wanting some personal space now more than ever; luckily for me, the guests of honour turned up at the perfect moment.

I ran to my sister, whose arms were outstretched, waiting for me. I buried myself in her, fully realising how much I had missed her. I let her go after a few minutes with a hint of tears in my eyes. It took me a few tries, but I finally forced the words I wanted to say to her out of my mouth.

'Congratulations, Lucretia.'

Lucretia's hand stroked her stomach where my nephew or niece was situated. 'Thank you, dearest sister. It came as a shock, but it seems that Father finally has himself an heir.'

'It does not matter what Father thinks,' I snapped but restrained my anger and masked it with a smile for my beloved sister. 'Are _you_ happy with the news?'

Her face said it all, but she answered, 'I am elated.'

'Then, that is all that matters,' I told her firmly. 'This is _your _child, my darling sister. Not his heir. _Your _child.'

'And yet you seem to spoil the festivities held in their honour by keeping their mother from speaking to the other guests,' said a new voice that sent a taste of disgust into my mouth.

I turned on my heel to see Brutus Tiberius standing there, dressed in all his tawdry finery, a smirk on his smug face. He dipped his head in a bowing motion in my sister's direction, but he kept his eyes on me, leering at me, sending shivers down my spine as I placed a smile on my face and slightly curtseyed to him.

'If I may,' he said and took my hand rather forcefully, leading me away from the safety and cover that Lucretia offered, and closer to where the music was being played. Holding me tightly against his body, he brought me closer to him; I could not find myself more repulsed, but I knew that one false move would cause an outcry and my father would be humiliated in front of all his guests. I could not afford that at any cost.

'You are looking beautiful tonight, Miss Soranus,' he complimented me.

'Thank you, Master Tiberius,' I said curtly. 'It is kind of you to compliment me so.'

'I do not compliment. I merely speak the truth. And now, I require the truth from you, Aurora.' I stiffened then and he must have felt this as his clasp was tighter now as he whispered in a lower tone. 'Why must you resist me and my efforts to please you?'

'Please me?' I repeated.

'I send you gifts of considerable worth and value. Jewellery, flowers, trinkets. And yet you spurn me further.'

'It is not my decision whose affections I return,' I told him through gritted teeth. 'It is my father's.'

'Ah, yes,' he said. 'So it is ... However, your father seems to believe that I am not good enough for you. What can I give you or him to make him see that I would be a worthy husband?'

'For a start, you cannot buy your way into my affections,' I growled into his ear. 'I am not a possession. I will not be bought.'

Suddenly, his hands found their way around my wrists like snakes and squeezed them tightly, completely disarming me. I tried to turn but he held me fast, forcing me to look into that face of his. I had never really paid much attention to his appearance until now when I was made to look. His hair was in the style that young men favoured those days – Cassius thought against having it himself, not wanting to be like all the rest. His eyes were far too close to each other and were a muddy brown. I could never have him as my husband. I felt sick just thinking about it.

'Now, now, miss,' he sneered in my ear, his grip vice-like around my wrists. 'I think you'll find me ... persuasive.'

'I'd rather be thrown to the lions – '

He grasped my wrists even tighter, silencing my threat; once he knew that I was in enough pain not to retort, he pulled me closer so that he was whispering in my ear. I had never felt more repulsed in my life and I prayed to the gods for someone to release me.

'I had a horse like you once,' he murmured. 'A beautiful mare with a coat black as night. She was stubborn and restless. She wouldn't bend to my will. Soon enough, with enough pressure – ' he squeezed my wrists even harder in order to prove his point ' – she broke. She became obedient.'

'Let go of me,' I snarled.

'Soon, you will be broken. You will come crawling to me – '

'Is there a problem here, sir?' asked the voice of my saviour.

Brutus' grip slackened and my wrists were free. He stepped away from me, almost feigning innocence, and saw Godric standing there in a firm stance, his hands balled into fists, his face angered beyond reason. His eyes were dark and unyielding as they glared at Brutus who felt himself waver a little.

'No, go back to your duties, _boy_.'

Godric's eyes flickered to my wrists which were reddened and bore the mark of his fingers. 'He hurt you,' he murmured to me as though he was unable to believe it. His eyes snapped back to Brutus and for a moment, I saw nothing of the Godric I had grown to care for. I saw only a man who had seen the blackest hearts of men and had suffered more than any could in one lifetime.

'I think it best that you leave now,' he rumbled, struggling to control his anger.

'Who are you, slave, to order me out?' Brutus barked, putting on his best bravado. 'I am a guest here. I shall do as I please. I shall do what I want and with who I want ... '

He threw a leering look at me and I could not bear it, turning my head away in disgust. As if to save me from these looks, Godric stepped in front of me, shielding me from Brutus.

'You will stay away from her. You will not touch her again.'

Brutus snorted and dared to go nearer to Godric. 'Really? Who are you to threaten me? You're nothing but a slave. You have no right to even look at me if I do not permit it. Now, step out of the way so I can finish what I started.'

Brutus took one step closer to Godric and to me, but my Godric held firm and his stance never wavered, not even for a second. I found myself holding onto him for dear life, fearful of the next few seconds.

'I think you need to leave,' Godric ordered him.

'And I think you need to – '

'Finish that sentence and prepare to be dragged out,' said a new voice.

Cassius made an appearance, standing next to Godric, angrier than I had ever seen him. This wasn't anger, it was rage – pure, hot, boiling rage that I prayed that I would never have to witness again. This was a side to my twin brother that I was actually afraid of, but I knew that there was nothing to be afraid of because this rage was not, nor would ever be, directed at me but at the cowering boy only feet away.

'See here, Soranus – ' Brutus attempted to say, but he was stopped by Cassius who held up one hand to silence him.

'First you lay your hands upon my sister. For that, I am only seconds away from killing you myself, but I refuse to do that in my own house with all these witnesses. And then, you threaten my friend.'

'A _slave_!' Brutus cried incredulously.

'He is my friend and you threatened him in my house,' Cassius continued as if Brutus had never even opened his lips. 'Now, I suggest you leave before I forcibly remove you. Or would you rather my father show you out?'

Brutus had heard of the war stories, the tales, of my father and I saw a little colour drain away from his face. He was frightened, I could see that, not only of my father, but the blow to his reputation if Cassius took the second option.

'No, I can show myself out,' he stammered and hastily left before any attention was drawn to his abrupt departure.

Godric and Cassius' attentions then turned to me and their anger and rage melted away into care and worry for my safety. I gripped each of them and held on as I let my own anger and rage spill over, hidden from view so that no one would suspect a thing. No could see. No one could know.

* * *

><p>When I arrived back at Eric's mansion at three in the morning, I found myself to be alone once more. After so many years of living with human and having company all the time, the loneliness that I had once felt a long time ago was starting to set in. Before Maria and Vera, I had travelled alone, seeking no companionship because I did not require it. My frequent visits with my beloved maker were enough to fill up my amount of company that I needed. Now, even though I knew I had my brother and, albeit reluctantly, my niece now, I felt the loneliness now without the one person who completed every one of my nights and kept me safe during every one of my days.<p>

As I opened the door, I was greeted by several cardboard boxes and a small white note attached to the one nearest to the door. Raising an eyebrow, I manoeuvred myself around the boxes and picked up the note. It was from Eric and was signed in his most elegant script that put esteemed calligraphers to shame.

_Dearest Aurora,_

_These boxes contain the rest of your belongings from your previous residence. I had some of my day men move it here whilst you were at the bar, which I have yet to thank you for, I now realise. Everything you need or want, you will find here in my house, now your home, but I thought that having your personal items here may settle you in more easily. Take them to the room I have left for your use. This is officially your home now._

_I have business to attend to with the King and I will be home as soon as possible. In the meantime, try not to let Pam get on your nerves. I think she's growing accustomed to you. Or I could be wrong. I have been before with my unpredictable progeny._

_Eric._

I smiled at the note and did as he asked, carrying as many boxes as my arms could hold and racing up to my assigned room. I did as he instructed and found the room he had graciously given to me. I opened the door and placed everything inside, ready for another time when I would assort the various items and place in my new room.

Suddenly, I heard the door slam and a pair of heels speed up the stairs. I rushed out to meet the person and I heard the footsteps slow to silence. I used my super-keen and heightened senses to tell that the person was cautiously going for a surprise attack so I made the first move. Fangs extended, ready and waiting, I sprang from my stance and held the vampire by the throat in a second. I spluttered the name of the vampire when I discovered their identity.

'Pam?'

She rolled her eyes and looked down in pain at the hand I had around her neck. 'Yeah, yeah, it's me. Now, please let go of me.'

Hiding my fangs away, I did as she asked and she fell backwards slightly, rubbing her neck where my fingers had been. She was wearing a daring red number that was not of her own wardrobe, I had grown to understand. I just thought she dressed like a slut, twenty four seven. She must have come straight from Fangtasia. However, a pained expression on her pale face told me to enquire further.

'Pam, what's wrong?' I asked cautiously.

Pam closed her eyes – in pain? – for a split second and this was all the time I needed to work out that something was seriously wrong.

'I can't ... tell you,' she said, standing up properly and refusing to look me in the eye as though I could glamour her as I could humans.

I raised an eyebrow. 'Why can't you tell me?'

'I ... I just can't,' she murmured. 'Now, if you – '

'Pamela,' I growled, letting my fangs drop to show that I would not let this go that easily. 'Tell me what has happened or so help me, I will – '

'It's Eric,' she murmured. 'Something's happened to Eric.'

I stopped dead – well, more dead than I already am. I was numb, speechless, dumbstruck. I couldn't find the words in my mind to string together a single sentence and even then, I wasn't even sure that my lips would respond with actually saying those words. Something had happened to my brother. Something had happened to Eric. The way that Pam was acting – saddened expression, constantly looking at every corner – made me realise that something was seriously wrong.

'What happened, Pam?' I managed to croak. 'What happened to Eric?'

'He's been cursed,' she whispered as though she was afraid of being overheard.

'Cursed?' I repeated. 'What do you mean, cursed?'

Pam rolled her eyes and let out a snort despite the current situation. 'What do you think I mean, you stupid little girl?'

'This is no time for games, Pam!' I growled. 'Tell me now. What happened?'

Pam took a short breath and pulled herself together before she said, 'He was cursed ... by witches.'

I scowled and swore under my breath. I did not get on with the majority of witches, primarily because of what I was and because of some of the things their kind had done to me in my life. Although, I did not hate them as I did werewolves. I actually had one good witch friend, a friend who belonged to a family I had known for centuries. Still, witches were dangerous and witches that could control the dead were even more so.

'How? What was the curse?'

'I don't know,' she almost whined, helpless to her maker's plight. 'All I know is ... he can't remember a damn thing. He didn't even know who he was, for God's sake!' With a whisper that I could tell was pained, she continued, looking away from me. 'He didn't recognize me ... '

I was reeling. Eric couldn't remember anything at all? If he couldn't even recognize Pam, the progeny he had himself created and known for a hundred years, then ... he wouldn't even know me. All the time I had spent trying to find him seemed worthless now. He wouldn't even know me.

'I have to see him,' I said and made my way down the stairs.

Pam protested, 'You can't! Aurora, stop! Please!'

'Pam, my brother has been cursed by witches,' I snarled at her, turning around to face her, fangs bared. 'I have had my dealings with witches to know that they are precarious supernaturals. And don't even get me started on necromancers ... '

'Aurora, you can't go and see him!'

'Why? Where is he?'

'He's with Sookie,' she said reluctantly. 'Remember the one I told you about?'

'The fairy one? The one who was with Godric ... '

I figured that now was a good enough time to pay the woman who was with my beloved maker in his last moments a visit. Now, she was harbouring my ailing brother. It was time.

'Aurora, listen to me! He's in danger!'

'From the witches, I gathered.'

'No, from Bill!'

I stopped, my hand on the door of the mansion, ready for it to fly open and allow me to vanish into the night. I turned once again to Pam who looked at me pleadingly and desperately.

'Bill? The King?'

'Yes,' she panted. 'Eric was sent to that coven by Bill, the King of Calamity. He knew it was a trap.'

'And this is a sure thing to get Eric a one way ticket to the True Death,' I concluded.

'Bill can _never_ find out about this. He'll have Eric killed.'

I nodded and reached out to stroke my niece's cheek comfortingly. 'I will protect him. Don't worry, Pam. He'll be safe.'

With an inkling that she could trust me on this, Pam nodded and turned her eyes to the floor. 'Sookie lives in Bon Temps. A little white house, just across the way from the King's mansion.'

I absorbed the information and set off. If I got lost, I would follow Pam's scent. As I ran, I thought of my brother and the witches who had stolen his memories. The memories of his vampire life, life with Godric, Pam and ... me.

Now, I realised that my instincts were right upon our first meeting – you cannot trust Bill Compton, Vampire King of Louisiana.

* * *

><p>'Are you sure you're all right?'<p>

For what must have been the hundredth time, I nodded and managed to smile at my questioner. This time, it was Godric, not Cassius, and he looked at me as though he could see straight into my soul. He knew that I was not all right, that I was shaken. I had made Cassius go and make sure that no one was worrying about me or gossiping about the whole affair. The party was nearly ending and a few of the guests had left, but I could not risk my father finding out about this torrid scene and I did not want the celebration of my sister's child to be ruined indirectly because of me.

Now Godric was kneeling in front of me, a hand on my knees, another on my face softly caressing my cheek. I could feel my cheeks reddening under his soft touch and I kept my eyes trained on his, which were filled with concern and a remaining anger.

'Godric, I am fine,' I asserted.

Godric looked away for a second, not wanting to direct any of his fury at me. 'I could kill him,' he hissed furiously, his hand resting on my knee curling into a fist.

'You mustn't speak like that, Godric,' I told him, even though I felt the same as he did.

'Why not?' he asked me. 'He _hurt _you, Aurora. He could have hurt you even more ... '

'What's done is done,' I said firmly, gripping both his hands now. 'Besides, I will not allow you to spill blood. That will make you like that ... brute. That is the last thing I want.'

Godric stopped and looked at me almost ... longingly. I reached across and held his cheek, rubbing it with the tip of my thumb. He stiffened and then relaxed, closing his eyes as he revelled at the sentimental touch.

'You are the kindest, purest soul I have ever met, Godric,' I whispered. 'I do not want that to change. You are filled with a goodness, a light ... '

Godric's opening eyes then flickered to mine and I could not finish my sentence, my mind distracted by those entrancing eyes, my tongue and lips unable to function together to even speak.

'Aurora,' my brother's voice said, ruining this intimate moment. 'You must get some rest. You've had rather the eventful evening.'

I looked up at Cassius whose eyes told me that he knew exactly what was going on here. I shook my head at him, our secret signal that now was not the time before I threw one last longing look at Godric and retired to my rooms.

I was frustrated. Why were we always interrupted? It was as though fate was constantly throwing distractions and diversions between Godric and I confessing our feelings to each other. I knew that I had to say something soon or I could lose him. I never wanted to lose my Godric. Once I was in my room, I let out a deep sigh and lightly smiled as I thought of Godric's words. Terrifying a threat as it could be, he was willing to condemn his soul and actually harm Brutus because he hurt me. He was my protector, my saviour ...

Suddenly, I felt hands clasp my arms tightly. For a second, in my most romantic of thoughts, I thought it was Godric and that he was about to profess his love to me. However, I felt hot breath on my neck and a raspy voice I recognized to my horror.

'Hello again, my dear,' Brutus rasped in my ear. He turned me round to look me over, surveying me like a prized stallion. 'Finally, alone at last.'

'Get out of my quarters,' I growled. 'Get out of my house _now_.'

'Without what I came here for? Now, that wouldn't be right, would it?'

'I will _never_ marry you,' I spat at him.

Brutus' eyebrows raised in mock shock before his grip tightened and he pushed himself closer to me. 'Who said anything about marrying you?'

As his words settled into my brain, I tried to run, but he was stronger and with one push, threw me onto the bed. I prepared to scream, but he had his hand over my mouth in seconds whilst the other one pinned me to the bed. I struggled but I could not move. I was helpless and about to become his prey.

**A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated - so much going on! I will get more chapters to you soon - until then, here is Chapter 24!**


	25. Chapter 25

Rome

I had never felt so terrified in my life. Brutus had me pinned down and I fought against him as hard as I could, but to no avail. I was weaker than he was and he used his weight to keep me on the bed. Tears flooded my eyes as I struggled with this monstrous excuse for a human being.

'I think I am going to enjoy this very much,' he rasped in my ear as one slimy hand reached up my dress.

I could think of nothing that would stop him. I was powerless. I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle, for something to happen, for someone to save me. As luck would have it, salvation came sooner than I expected. With a smack, I was released and I felt the full weight of Brutus lift from me, allowing me to be free and to breathe once more. I sat up on the bed to see him sprawled on the floor, clutching his nose which I assumed had been broken on the impact of Godric's fist, which was raised as though he would not hesitate to do it again. I had never seen such rage, such anger in someone. I did not make a sound or a movement as I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, which did not leave the body of my saviour.

'I could kill you for what you have done,' Godric growled. 'My people were great warriors and I learned well. I could finish you in seconds ... '

'Please!' Brutus pleaded, his voice muffled as it was partially covered by his hand which was staunching the blood flow from his nose. 'I beg of you!'

'Good,' Godric said. '_Beg_. Beg for forgiveness.'

Brutus made to speak to Godric but he gave a short laugh and knelt down so that they were at eye level. However, Brutus was shaking when he came face to face with his assailant.

'It is not my forgiveness you need to beg for. It is that of the lady you have harmed and very nearly ... violated in her own home.'

Brutus looked at me then as though bade to and I could see nothing in those eyes. There was no forgiveness, no remorse for his actions. He had meant to do what he had set out to do. He was just upset that he had not finished what he had started and that his nose was broken.

'Get out,' Godric ordered. 'And if I see you anywhere near her again, I _will_ kill you. Do you understand?'

It took him a few attempts to mumble an agreement before he rose to his feet and quickly exited the room, leaving nothing behind but a few droplets of blood.

Godric heaved a sigh and looked at me finally. I could barely move or speak. I was still in shock. He raced over to me and held my face in his hands, his eyes flickering over mine, trying to find some response.

'Aurora?' he murmured in a voice of velvet. 'Did he hurt you? Did he ... ?'

He could not bring himself to finish the sentence; he did not want to think of what could have happened, had he been a few seconds later.

'No,' I whispered hoarsely. 'He did not.'

Godric, nodding, kissed my forehead and both of my cheeks before the tears began to flow once more with twice the velocity. I heaved sobs and Godric held me in his arms, rocking me back and forth as I sobbed into his chest. He kissed me on the top of my head every so often but did not say a word and allowed me to let all of my emotions out. I held onto him as though he would be taken from me and I found myself thanking the gods for Godric's presence and for sending him to me.

* * *

><p>Within a moment or so, I was at the house of the infamous Sookie Stackhouse. It was a nice looking house and I could only imagine the blonde, perky human Pam had told me so much about walking out of the white door or sitting on the front porch during the summer. It was strange that such a beautiful place could be so close to a cemetery, a place of death and decay. Shrugging off these thoughts and focusing on the problem now at hand, I made my way up the steps and waited patiently on the porch before rapping at the door rather urgently, resuming my waiting again so that I would be allowed into the house by its owner. After two thousand years, the irritation of not being able to enter a home unless invited was still there.<p>

'Who's there?' called a female voice with a strong Southern accent. She then emerged and waited just beyond the threshold, obviously knowing that she would be safe there should I try and attack her. She was young and in her twenties with long golden hair and tanned skin; her lips were pursed as she looked me over, assessing me and the danger I posed to her.

'Are you Sookie Stackhouse?' I asked politely.

'Who wants to know?' she asked hotly.

I smiled a little and answered her. 'I am Aurora. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sookie.'

'You're a vampire, right?' she said in almost a statement. I let my fangs drop in a 'yes' and she continued, unfazed by the extra canines; she must be used to vampires as Pam had said. 'Do you work for Bill?'

'Bill Compton?' I asked and to her nod, I shook my head vehemently. 'No, I do not. Although, I think he may be a reason as to why I'm here.'

'And why's that?' Sookie asked cautiously, standing closer to the living room I could see on her right. Someone was there and I knew who it was instinctively. I craned my eyes to see but she caught me looking and raised an eyebrow.

'You have Eric here.'

She stiffened and looked behind me, probably to see if I had brought back up. Her facial expression then changed as she tried to cover up what I already knew for myself to be true. 'Eric Northman? No, he's not here. Why would he be here?'

I snorted then. 'You don't have to lie to me, Sookie. I would never hurt him.'

Sookie looked taken aback but still remained cautious and wary of me. I admired her spirit.

'How did you know he was here?' she demanded.

'Pam told me,' I said and she seemed to relax, knowing that somehow I could be trusted with an amnesiac Eric.

'Pam wouldn't just tell anyone about this,' she realised out loud and looked me up and down. 'You must be someone pretty important. Well, important to Eric.'

I nodded softly and said, 'He is my brother.'

Sookie's mouth dropped open and she regained her senses in a good time so that she was able to invite me into her house. Once I was inside the threshold, I waited until she had closed the door and listened to her talking away, not leaving me with enough time to deliver any of the answers she seemed to ask for.

'So, you're his sister? In a vampire way? Oh my God ... No one ever told me he had a sister. Then, again, why would he? Oh, and by the way, I didn't have to invite you in. I thought I should say. Eric kinda bought my house.'

I suppressed a laugh. 'That's Eric through and through. What possessed him to buy your house, I must ask?'

'He thought he would get me with it,' Sookie said, shaking her head. 'Kinda like a package deal.' I laughed at this now and she smiled at my mirth before a serious look fell on her face and she gestured to the living room to our right. 'He's just in there. I was gonna get him down in his little cubby early so that he would be resting before dawn but ... '

'Cubby?' I repeated.

'Yeah, he built himself a little cubby in my wardrobe,' she said with a voice dripping in contempt. 'Viking wasn't satisfied with having my house. He's now a tenant.'

It was then that I glimpsed my brother, shirtless and standing in the middle of the room. He was glancing around the room with an innocent and almost childlike expression. Any hint of the Eric I knew was nowhere to be found; he was not his cold, sarcastic self. He was changed completely. Once his eyes found mine, there was no recognition in those blue orbs, none whatsoever. His lips did not tug into that familiar smile and he looked confused at my presence here, not overjoyed as he usually was. My brother, the brother I had newly found and connected with, had been changed. I felt as though I had lost him once again.

'Sookie,' he said, cautiously looking me over. 'Who is this?'

'Eric,' she murmured, 'this is – '

'Eric,' I said, interrupting what she was about to say. I could not hold my tongue for much longer; I had to say something. 'Oh, Eric.'

'I am sorry,' he said in a meek voice that the Eric I knew would never have dreamed of using, 'but I don't know who you are. I'm sorry.'

It was like being stabbed through the heart. I recoiled from the pain being blasted through me by his words and I found my feet taking steps towards him. At first, he took a few steps backwards like a puppy but after a look from Sookie, he remained still and watched my every move carefully. I went up to him and held his face in my hands, willing him to stare into my eyes. There was nothing of my Eric there. He was hidden or ... gone.

'Oh, _min bror,'_ I said in his native Swedish before I threw my arms around his chest and embraced him. Tears flowed from my eyes and I clung to him.

'_Är du min__syster__?_' he asked and he slowly placed his hands on the small of my back as I held him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I released him and kissed him on the forehead. I then made my way to Sookie who told Eric to stay where he was – which he did obediently – and led me into the kitchen so that we could talk. She offered me a Tru Blood – one of many that Eric had brought as a housewarming gift to himself.

'So, you're his sister?' she asked again and I nodded. 'That means that Godric was your maker too, right?'

'Yes,' I answered her and looked at her with reverence and respect. 'Pam told me that you were with him on that rooftop in Dallas when he ... '

It was still painful and Aurora looked away from her to take a slow breath and calm herself. Sookie reached across the table where she was sitting across from the vampire and placed her hand on hers comfortingly.

'Yeah, I was with him,' Sookie murmured. 'Right until the very end.'

'And was he ... ?' Aurora whispered, pausing only to gather strength to finish her sentence. 'Was he ... in pain? Did he feel it?'

Sookie shook her head. 'No, it was peaceful and painless.' At Aurora's sigh of relief, she continued. 'You loved him, didn't you?'

'More than anything and anyone in this or any of my other lifetimes,' I spoke with the greatest of truth and sadness.

I then pulled myself together and made my excuses to Sookie in order to leave, but I knew that I could not just get up and leave. I actually liked this human, fairy, whatever she was. She had been with Godric and she was now protecting my very changed brother.

'Sookie, would you mind terribly if I offered you my assistance?' I asked.

'Well, Pam's giving me money to mind Eric so you don't have – '

It was my turn to shake my head, almost smiling. 'No, not financial assistance. Eric is over a thousand years old. He's strong, powerful and, in his current state of mind, dangerous.' Our thoughts both turned to the mild-mannered and naive Eric I had encountered so I amended my own words. 'Well, dangerous to others around him. He wouldn't hurt you, Sookie. But I can be of some assistance in that area. I'm the only vampire that you know who's stronger than he is and if needed, I shall help you.'

'Wait,' she said, holding up a hand. 'You're stronger than Eric? That must make you ... older than him.'

'By a thousand years or so,' I shrugged nonchalantly.

'Wow,' she breathed, looking my delicate and youthful frame up and down. 'Appearances sure can be deceiving.'

I remembered the earlier conversation with my brother containing those very words and smiled at Sookie, knowing two things. The first was that she would help my brother in any way she could, despite the fact that she had landed into this situation through no fault of her own. The second was that I needed to find out how to reverse the spell and fix the amnesiac Eric.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

I could barely sleep that night or the next; in fact, I did not sleep for an entire week after Brutus' attempt to claim me. I found myself closing my eyes only to relive those horrifying moments and almost feel his greasy hands on my skin, his hot breath on my neck and his rasping voice in my ears. My eyes would fly open with tears and I would lie there, praying to the gods for some means of escape from this ceaseless torment.

One morning, before even the sun was awake, I was dressed and made my way under the cloak of darkness to the ruins that Godric and I had frequented. With me, I brought a variety of weapons – swords, daggers, clubs, bows and arrows – stolen from my brother's quarters as he lay snoring in his bed. They were heavy to carry but I would rather be dragging them to those ruins than spend one more sleepless night, trying to erase those memories etched into my mind.

I removed my cloak and threw it on a huge stone before picking up one of the swords. It was heavy and I had to make a few attempts to even lift it higher than a few feet off the ground, but eventually my strength pulled through. I racked my brain, avoiding those recollections and finding the vivid images of my brother and Godric training. I visualised his body movements, his agility and his techniques in manoeuvring the blade expertly. I applied these skills to my own and found that I picked them up quite easily.

With my weapon, I fought invisible enemies, demons in the dark, spirits come to torment me. I stabbed at them and hissed at them to leave me be, all the while picturing Brutus with every movement of my sword. I had never felt such hatred course through my veins. My blood had never boiled so. He had hurt me. I wanted to _hurt _him.

'Aurora, what are you doing?'

In fear, I spun on my heel and turned the blade on the approaching figure, who held his hands up in a surrender as the blade landed in mid-air inches away from the place where his heart rested. He looked at me with confusion and slight anxiety as he watched my fingers tremble at the hilt of the weapon.

'Godric,' I panted, 'what are you doing here?'

'I awoke early to start my duties for Master Cassius,' he explained. 'I was to clean and assort his weaponry, but I discovered that they were nowhere to be found. I then checked your room – '

'Why my room?' I asked.

'Because I wanted to make sure that you were safe and unharmed,' he answered truthfully and I felt my heart flutter. 'And I found that you were not there. I could think of only one place that you might have gone and here we are.'

Heaving deep breaths, I slowly and gently lowered the blade to the ground and collapsed to my knees. Godric knelt beside me and eased my fingers off the hilt, placing it away from me and next to him.

'Why are you here, Aurora? And with your brother's weapons?' he murmured curiously. He was not accusing or patronising; I could be honest with Godric and not have anything to fear from it.

'I was practising,' I answered shortly.

'For what, may I ask?'

'I am unprepared, Godric. I was attacked.' At his recoil and scowl, I continued onwards with my explanation. 'I was helpless, unprotected – '

'I was not there to guard you and protect you. For that, I will never forgive myself.'

'Do not say such things,' I said. 'You have nothing to feel guilty for. I appreciate that you feel the need to protect me, but what good will that do when you cannot save me? I have to learn how to defend myself.'

'I have told you. Brutus will never come near you again.'

'I cannot risk that!' I shouted. 'I need to know how to protect myself so that if he returns, I can ... I can ... '

Words failed me and I sighed, closing my eyes. I felt Godric's fingers cup my chin and turn it closer to him; once I opened my eyes, I discovered his own to be inches away, locking mine in his entrancing gaze.

'He will never touch you,' he promised. 'No other man will touch you. You _are_ protected, Aurora.'

'What do you mean, no other man?' I asked, already guessing what his answer was going to be. However, my guess was completely wrong as he pressed his lips against mine in a passionate kiss.

The kiss was wonderful and I knew instantly that it would be the first of many that Godric and I would share. He moved his lips and I followed suit, but I took control and threw my arms around him. This threw him off balance and we fell to the floor, Godric underneath me. I did not detach my lips from his and soon, I felt his tongue run across my bottom lip. Closing my eyes and sighing in ecstasy, I replied in earnest and urgency, our tongues now fighting for dominance. He ran his hands through my hair and down my back, moaning himself with pleasure. When he had finished with my mouth, his lips travelled down to my cheek and down my jaw, planting sweet kisses on my skin. I gasped as his lips reached the nape of my neck and his tongue flashed out to lick my neck before travelling back up to meet my lips once again. However, the kiss was short and wonderfully sweet as his lips brushed mine and then my eyelids.

He then said something in a strange language I had never heard. I opened my eyes to see him clearly, my beloved Godric in all the glory of the darkness, illuminated by the dying stars.

'What does that mean?' I whispered.

'It is my old tongue. It means 'I love you'.'

I smiled and tears of joy sprang to my eyes. I kissed him again and whispered into his ear, 'I love you too.'

Then, we lay back so that my head was resting on his chest and my ear was listening to the pulsing beat of his heart, gazing up at the new dawn and revelling in our newly-announced love as it rose as brightly as the sun.


	26. Chapter 26

Rome

Despite the fact that I was elated that Godric and I had finally confessed our love for one another, there was still the small matter of keeping it hidden from everyone else. It was imperative that no one discovered our secret as the consequences would be severe for both myself and my beloved Godric. However, this did not mean that we would keep ourselves away from each other entirely. We would wait until after dark before sneaking out successfully under the cover of darkness and escaping to our sanctuary within the ruins that we now called our own. We would lie there and watch the stars, talking about whatever it was that was on our minds at the time or thoughts that had been waiting to be shared with each other from the day.

'Godric?' I murmured softly and at his 'Hmmm?' that I took as a reply, continued. 'Do you like it here?'

'Being with you here is absolute bliss,' he answered.

I bit my lip and pulled myself together enough to say, 'No, not here, now. I meant, here in Rome.'

It took him a few deliberated seconds before he gave me an answer. 'I am fed and well. That is all I can ask for. And my brother is safe and in your sister's good care.'

I nodded. 'And if you could, would you go ... ?'

'Home?' he finished for me. 'Possibly. But there is nothing for me there anymore. Nothing but graves and memories of bloodshed.'

'You must have ... other memories. Good recollections of your family, your home ... '

I drifted off and he thought on my words for a few moments before his voice, sweet as honey and soft as velvet, spoke into my ear and sent a shiver down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

'I remember ... good times. My mother singing me to sleep as a child and then to my brother. My father teaching me the ways of the land. The celebrations throughout the year. The roaring fire of a winter and the cool breeze of a summer.'

'They sound wonderful,' I agreed.

'Maybe one day, we can make some good memories of our own,' he said to me before his lips touched mine and all conversation was forgotten for the time being.

* * *

><p>The next night, I had awoken from my day's slumber to discover that Pam was nowhere to be found. I made plans to see Eric and Sookie that night, but I decided to try and find out more about these necromancers that had cursed my brother. Witches, in all honesty, neither trusted nor got along with vampires so the two species usually kept to themselves. However, a powerful necromancer with enough magic to cause a thousand year old vampire to lose all of his memories was a force to be reckoned with and I only prayed that there was some way to prevent this witch from harming any one else.<p>

I decided to call upon one of my old acquaintances and picked up my mobile phone – a device I did not entirely like but used out of necessity and fast communication. I punched in a familiar number and put the phone to my ear, whispering to myself for the receiver to pick up hurriedly. After three tones, the phone was picked up and a male voice answered which I was not expecting.

'Onyx's phone,' he answered gruffly as though he had just been interrupted in doing something and wanted the phone call over as soon as possible.

'Hello,' I said graciously. 'Is Onyx there, please?'

'Yeah, yeah, may I ask who's calling?'

I smiled to myself and answered. 'Tell her that her niece is calling.'

'All right then,' he asked confusedly and I heard him pass on the message, asking to my amusement if she had any nieces at all.

A quick exchange of hands and a breath later, a female voice responded with a delicate 'Hello?'

'Hey, Auntie Onyx,' I chuckled.

I heard her sigh and I imagined her to roll her eyes in the exaggerated way that I remembered fondly. 'God, Aurora, how did I know?'

'I couldn't resist. '97, Bon Jovi concert. You told the backstage crew I was your niece for them to let me in – '

' – and you glamoured the entire backstage crew into letting us meet the band,' she recalled fondly. 'Wow, that makes me feel old. Not you, of course. You _are_ old.'

'Ouch,' I laughed. 'Listen, Onyx, I was calling to ask a favour.'

'I hate this,' she grumbled. 'You vamps and your favours. I have to ask ... Does it involve my blood in any way?'

'No, of course not. And you know that I drink Tru Blood.'

'Mostly,' she said. 'And when has every vampire said that? It doesn't mean I trust them ... '

'You trust me, don't you?' I asked cautiously.

'Of course I do,' she murmured sincerely. 'You know that, Aurora.'

I smiled and recalled my first meeting with Onyx. She had been only a child of eight when I was first introduced to her, hiding behind her mother's legs and peeking out only to take a glance at me, the big bad vampire, before crying out in fear and asking to be taken away. I hadn't blamed her. Witch families often passed down horror stories of vampires and other supernatural creatures so I assumed that her family had informed her of the scary being with fangs and the ability to drink blood. Quite horrifying for a young child, but witches bring their children up in the ways of magic and they must be tough and strong from birth.

I had been a friend of the Raine family for many years; if my mind allowed me, I could remember my first meeting with Sarah Raine back in the seventeenth century, the beginning of my alliance with the family. I had protected her from others of my kind and had promised on her deathbed as an elderly woman that I would be there to protect her family if ever they required the assistance of a vampire. Over the years, I had never really been asked to do many things, but to them, I was an ally, a powerful confidante. Some of them did not trust me, but not the youngest of the family, twenty-eight year old Onyx. She counted me as a friend and we had been in correspondence since she was about eighteen.

'So what's the favour, Aurora?' she asked, bringing me out of my memories.

'What do you know of ... necromancers?' I asked slowly.

Onyx cursed and returned to me with a new tone in her voice. 'They are bad news, honey. Bad as in _bad_. Do not get involved with them. They are dangerous.' After a short silence, she groaned, realising now what my favour would include. 'Oh Goddess, are you serious? _Necromancers_, Aurora!'

'I've not got involved with them. My brother has. And he's in deep trouble, Onyx, and I need your help.'

'Holy ... ' she muttered. 'How deep are we talking about here?'

'They've erased his memories. He didn't recognize me, didn't know who I was.'

'Oh my,' Onyx said. 'Now that's powerful magic. Vampire memories? That's some deep stuff, Aurora.'

'Could you fix him?' I asked, desperately.

She snorted. 'Me? God, no. I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm still learning myself. It takes _years_ to learn how to even cast the spell in the first place, let alone reverse it. I'm sorry.'

'Maybe one of your aunts, your grandmother ... '

'No,' she said firmly. 'You know their view. Besides you, they don't trust vampires at all. I can barely get them to even tolerate them without one of them trying to turn them into a toad.'

I laughed but it died too quickly to be considered real humour. Onyx tutted, sensing my distress, and sighed heavily.

'Look, you're my friend and you're a friend of the family. I can pull some strings and see if anyone knows anything about necromancy. I'll pool my information and call you as soon as.'

I was elated. 'Thank you, Onyx! You have no idea – '

'I think I do,' she laughed to herself.

Something bleeped on my phone and I cursed to myself. 'Sorry, Onyx. There's another call waiting.'

'You go on ahead,' she said. 'I'll call you as soon as I find anything.'

'Thank you, Onyx,' I sighed and pressed a button to answer the waiting call. 'Hello?'

'Where the hell are you?' Pam drawled on the other line.

'I'm at home,' I said shortly. 'Why?'

'I need you to come to Fangtasia. You have to earn your keep.'

'And do what? Sit around and wait for humans to fawn over me and beg me to feed from them, taking them away from their so-called pathetic and meaningless existence?'

There was a pause and then she answered in a mockingly perky voice. 'Yeah, that sounds just about right. Now, get yourself over here, pronto. We need to make it seem as though nothing is wrong.'

I nodded mutely and hung up, knowing that my niece would understand that I was on my way to Eric's bar. We had to keep up appearances. No one could know about what had happened to Eric, or even worse could befall the Viking.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

Godric and I walked back to the villa just before dawn approached and the golden rays of the morning sun revealed to the world our secret. We were silent now, barely breathing as we entered the house on our tiptoes and stood by the fountain in the open atrium, bathing in the sound of the trickling water and the chirp of the crickets. Godric's arms found their way around my body and I was once more entranced by his beautiful eyes that easily captured my gaze within seconds.

'And now the dawn,' he said sadly. 'Now we must go back to our own lives, you the beautiful daughter I can never have ... '

' ... and you,' I countered, grinning, 'the young man who has captured my heart. And what lives are we to lead without each other?'

Godric sighed, 'We are truly living a lie. I cannot endure another moment of looking at you, day after day, knowing that I could hold you in my arms and kiss your lips – ' he pressed his lips to mine as he had done so many times this evening ' – like this.'

'One day,' I promised. 'We will be together, for always.'

'That would mean defying your father,' he pointed out. 'It would mean your reputation ruined and your good name cast to the wind.'

'I do not care!' I almost cried out in protestation. 'I care not for my name nor any other name they may throw at me! The only name I care about is _Godric_ ... '

'In that case, _Aurora _is the only word this tongue ever wishes to speak,' he whispered and proceeded to run his tongue over my bottom lip, biting it softly and ensuring that I moaned a little with pleasure.

I had had enough teasing and brought my lips to his, knowing that only fiery passion could ensure. Our tongues fought for dominance and the heat of the moment was near an inferno. All I could sense and think of was Godric, _my _Godric. All I wanted was him. He was all I could ever want, ever ask for in any lifetime the gods could grant me.

'What are you doing?' a voice hissed from the darkness.

Godric and I broke apart and turned to see the face of the discoverer of our love, shaking and stunned beyond belief.

* * *

><p>I arrived at Fangtasia, having put aside some time to adjust my outfit to cater to the needs of the Fangtasia patrons. I was wearing a blood red dress that reached my knees and contrasted effectively with my alabaster skin; I chose black heels and a black leather jacket to complete the look before using my preferred mode of transport – flying – to reach Fangtasia. I admit that it was a little amusing to see the patrons watch me in awe as I made my descent perfectly on stilettos and walked into the club, no entry details required, gawping and gossiping.<p>

The music was thudding and vibrating, bouncing off every corner of the room. I scanned the room before I found my niece who was dressed all in black with a leather jacket that looked similar to my own but showcased some rather questionable studs and spikes. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she acknowledged me with a nod, not taking her eyes off her customers.

'What do I have to do?' I asked her, watching the eyes of some of the human men wander off their date and latch onto me in a leering way.

'You don't have to do _anything_,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'You just stand or sit and look pretty damn powerful. The fangbangers go crazy for power.'

I scoffed. 'These fangbangers irritate me. They have a human life and they want to give it to us on a silver platter.'

Pam raised an eyebrow. 'You know, you're pretty righteous for a thousand year old vampire.'

'So was Godric,' I murmured.

'He may have been towards the end, but Eric told me some of the antics he got up to in his early decades ... '

My head snapped up and I faced Pam with a glare. 'Godric was good, but he ... he had no control over his urges, not at first ... Neither one of us did ... '

As I was absorbed in memories, Pam found someone who was far more interesting than I was – a young man who walked up to her with a fierce determination that was being secretly undermined by his fear of what could happen to him at the hands of my niece. I heard his name mentioned as Lafayette, but by then, they had disappeared into the crowd and out of my sight.

I drew a long breath and knew that I had a job to do. I found being at the actual bar itself could get claustrophobic as fangbangers tried to corner you left, right and centre, so I looked around the room for a suitable place to settle myself so I could avoid the majority of the vampire fans. I spotted Eric's empty seat and, grinning to myself, within a flash, I was seated there as though it had been there for me. Several whispers spread across the bar as every fangbanger in the room spotted the vampire girl on the throne before returning to their evening of spoils as they divulged in the night that they longed for. I pitied them more than anything. The phrase 'be careful what you wished for' came to mind for so many of these humans who then found themselves living what they had once dreamed and hating every second of it.

'Aurora?' called a voice I recognized instantly. I stiffened and saw the boy, the human boy, I had met what felt like eons ago. He was standing in front of my throne and bowed in a joking way towards me before straightening up and grinning at me in that perfectly human way.

'Leo,' I greeted him, smiling now myself, even though I knew that the smile could only be an act even for his sake as my main thoughts turned now to my brother and his poor state. I should be helping Eric, I thought to myself. But what could I do? What could I do against necromancers? I, a thousand old year old blood drinking immortal, was powerless, a feeling I had felt only a few times in my lifetime. I despised that feeling.


	27. Chapter 27

Rome

It was my brother who stood there, watching us in shock. I gripped Godric's arm for support, to keep me steady, as I faced my brother, the discoverer of our secret and forbidden love.

'Would one of you care to explain what is going on here?' Cassius finally said, breaking the silence that had lingered for one second too many.

'Cassius – ' I went to say, but Godric got there first, looking at my brother, his master, with a stern but truthful expression.

'Cassius, Aurora and I ... we are in love.'

Cassius was taken aback, his eyebrows arched high above his eyes. 'In love?'

'Yes,' I answered. 'I am sorry, my brother, that we did not tell you.'

'But we knew that in confiding in some one, it would take such a great risk and it could end up exposing our secret,' Godric continued. 'No one knows. No one now except you.'

It took Cassius a few moments for the information thrown at him to soak in. He thought for a moment, his brows furrowing, his hand raising to his mouth as he contemplated the situation. My heart pounded against my chest and my grip on Godric's arm doubled in strength. What would he do? What would my own brother do?

He walked up to us and watched us both in turn with the look of an eagle. It took him a few moments to come up with his final verdict, passing the sentence over our secret.

'All right,' he murmured. 'I shall keep your secret.'

I breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Godric to clasp my brother's hand. 'You will not regret this, brother. Thank you.'

He smiled at me and nodded before turning to Godric with a serious look. 'Now, Godric, I talk to you not as a friend, but as Aurora's brother. I feel I ought to say that should you hurt her – '

'I would never hurt her,' Godric said firmly. 'I love her.'

'Be that as it may, I want you to know that if you hurt her in any way, I will make sure your life is not worth living.'

'I understand,' Godric said, dipping his head in a low nod.

Cassius smiled then at the both of us. 'I am glad for you both, truly I am. I can see now by your stance that you really are in love and who am I to stop love in its tracks? But have you thought more about the consequences of this ... affair?'

Godric and I exchanged looks before I delivered our answer to my brother. 'We take each day as it comes, Cassius. We do not think of tomorrow, only the present day.'

Cassius' grin grew further. 'What did I tell you, Godric? My sister's wisdom is greater than any of us can imagine.'

Godric's eyes turned to me adoringly as he answered Cassius. 'I know that very well, Master Cassius.'

* * *

><p>I talked with Leo for around twenty minutes or so. It was good to have human company again, to be able to have a conversation with someone of flesh and blood. As he pulled up a chair to sit next to the throne, I found myself neglecting my job and ignoring the other humans, the fangbangers and patrons who watched me with looks of lust and desire; when they saw Leo conversing intimately with me, they shot them glares from all corners of the room and uttered harsh whispers about him under their breath to each other. I ignored them all; I had eyes and ears only for my new human friend.<p>

'How have you been since we last spoke?' I asked him curiously.

'I haven't been too bad,' he answered, shrugging nonchalantly. 'I've been wanting to come back here though. Been trying every night.'

'And I guess you haven't been succeeding.'

He laughed and rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, yeah. My mom's been at me for the last couple of days, trying to steer me away from Shreveport.'

'Why? Trying to keep you studying hard?'

'I'm on honour roll and my attendance has never been better,' he said, laughing. 'No, no. She's terrified that I'll get attacked by some rabid vampire, a Russell Edgington wannabe.'

My fist clenched and my jaw set as I thought of that abominable excuse for an immortal. 'Don't worry about him. From what I hear, he's been disposed of.'

Leo raised an eyebrow as he gazed at me. 'Something tells me you're not his biggest fan.'

'Fan?' I echoed in disgust. 'That _scumbag_ Russell Edgington has been one of the banes of my immortal life. He has hurt me over and over, deepening the same wound every century or so.'

Leo nodded, taking in these words, and moved on. 'How are things with your brother? And your ... I want to say 'niece', but I'm not sure I get all these vampire family relationships.'

'Pam? She's my niece, yes, the child of my brother.'

'And when you say 'child' ... '

'I mean that she was made vampire by Eric. That is the term we use for a progeny as the bond between the maker and the one he makes is as strong as your human relationships.'

'Yeah, thank you for that. The news channels aren't very specific in explaining these sorts of things in their vamp documentaries.'

I smiled at this. Ah, the innocent stupidity of some humans. 'Things are ... different with Eric.'

'How different?'

I looked at him then as I stood on the brink of telling this human boy the secret that had been torturing me. Could I trust him with this? Or was it dangerous? Could this be used against me at some point?

'Well,' I murmured, 'it's ... '

I drifted off as I heard something going on underneath my feet. There was a scuffle going on in the basement downstairs. Something was happening. I stood then and a hundred eyes followed me, some conversations falling completely silent.

'Aurora?' Leo said, touching my arm. 'Is everything okay?'

'I'll be right back,' I told him and made my way to the basement door at the speed of the blink of an eye.

I pushed the door open and found myself at the top of a narrow staircase that led into the 'dungeon' of Fangtasia. Eric called it a dungeon, but I didn't like that term myself. I had been in real dungeons and this was just a revamped basement.

Pam was standing there with a human male clasped in her grip, held high in the air, his feet kicking comically. Her fangs were dropped and she tossed him to the other side of the basement. I watched my niece stalk towards him as he scrambled onto his hands, shuffling backwards until he was in the middle of a strange structure complete with dangling chains.

'It's one thing to fuck with me,' she said, her voice distorted by her fangs. 'That doesn't make me angry. That just makes me laugh.'

'I ain't fucking with nobody, I swear,' the male protested.

'But fuck with my maker,' Pam said as she pressed one of her heels against his chest and pushed him back to the ground, 'and you're just asking for it.'

'I don't even know what happened to him!'

'You and those goddamn witches erased his memory ... '

There was a sound and my head snapped back to the door as two more humans – another male and a female – walked past me. The female, strong and determined, carried a gun. The male carried a shaking Ginger and I made my way down the stairs, concealing myself in the shadows, a perfect hiding place for a vampire. Pam, noticing my presence, shot me one look as I gestured with my eyes to the two humans behind her.

' ... and now I'm going to erase you ... '

'Like hell you will!' the woman cried out.

Pam turned to Ginger's apologies and I made myself visible then. The three humans glanced at me fleetingly and I dropped my fangs, willing to use them should this lead to bloodshed.

'Aurora, I don't need your help,' Pam whispered, lower than they could hear.

'I know, but I thought you could use it anyway,' I answered in the same almost silent whisper.

The first male was now free and leapt to his feet, going back to his companions. The other male with dark hair and dressed in a white uniform looked him up and down for any signs of damage whilst the woman was unyielding in her stance, the gun pointed at Pam.

'Lafayette?' the second male asked. 'You okay?'

'I'm fine, baby,' Lafayette replied, out of breath.

'A gun?' Pam said in her trademark deadpan voice. 'That's funny.'

The woman snarled, 'Bet you don't think that wooden bullets inside are too damn funny.'

Pam's expression changed and my insides went cold. With one pull of the trigger, my niece's immortal life would end. I silently begged her to be quiet or face a more dreadful fate than what had befallen our beloved Eric.

'Okay, let's start with the fact that if you kill any of us, we cannot help you get Eric back.'

A fleeting glimmer of hope shone through in these words. I gazed at Pam and uttered the words, 'Pamela, do not do anything rash. For Eric's sake.'

'Who's she?' whispered Lafayette.

'I'm listening,' Pam said sincerely.

The second male found his tongue to say, 'We're part of the circle that made this happen.'

There was a moment when I truly believed that Pam would have attacked. I saw her muscles tense like a lioness, ready to spring. I looked at this man as he continued to plead; all I could see was the magic running through his veins. He caused Eric's memory loss. He had reduced Eric to this state. There was a darkness then inside me when my true vampire nature ruled, telling me to cleanly rip his head from his shoulders.

'We might have a chance of reversing the spell he's under.'

Pam then asked the man sceptically, 'Are you a witch?'

'I'm a _brujo_,' he answered.

I knew from my fluency in Spanish that he was indeed a witch, a male witch if you wanted the literal translation.

'A _brujo_?' I repeated his phrase to his nod.

Something in Ginger seemed to snap as the unstable waitress, glamoured one too many times, began to shriek at the top of her lungs and fought against his arms. Finally, he released her and she giddily made her way up the stairs as fast as she could, making her getaway from a potentially dangerous scene.

'We can bring the leader of the circle,' Lafayette said, his voice pleading as he looked from Pam to me. 'She the only somebody who can reverse the spell.'

Hope rose through me and I shot Pam a look that told her to be still and listen to these people. From my previous dealings with magic, I knew that whoever this spell caster was, she must have been powerful. Only she could reverse the spell and bring our Eric back to us.

'Or I can just shoot you right through the heart,' the woman threatened.

There was a tense pause as Pam waited for a considerable amount of time to deliver her verdict. Finally, she looked at them all and they breathed a sigh of relief as she agreed to let them live.

'I'll give you twenty four hours to deliver that witch to me and if you don't, I will personally eat, fuck and kill all three of you.'

With a gesture from the first woman, whose name I gathered from whispers was Tara, the three humans followed Ginger's example and headed back to Fangtasia. This Tara kept the gun lingering on Pam, occasionally flickering it to me, before she disappeared and the situation relaxed immensely. I turned to my niece with relief in my eyes, an emotion I could see reflected in her own.

'We're almost there, Pam,' I whispered.

'Now all we need to do is to get that witch to reverse the spell.'

'And get Eric back,' I added, to our shared nod of mutual agreement.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

Although the secret love between Godric and I was now being carefully guarded by none other than Cassius, we decided that the discovery was to be the only time our love would be known. We had come too close to our lives being shattered and our love being torn apart; we were thankful that it had been Cassius to discover us and not one of the servants. A wave of horror and dread overcame me as I pondered the consequences if my father had caught us together. I knew that he would have Godric whipped to the point of death and I would be excommunicated from his household, sent to some sort of convent to repent for my sins.

'Aurora,' Godric said, running his finger across my cheek, bringing me back into the present with him, as we lay there in our sacred meeting place, surrounded by nothing but nature and the ruins of a bygone era. 'You seem to be miles away. What can I do to bring you back?'

'There may be something you can do,' I teased as I brought my lips to his in a sweet kiss, my eyes closing and opening to see his handsome face illuminated in the glow of the moon. He caressed my face and his free hand reached for my own, entwining our fingers as tightly as the bond between us.

'That proves ... tempting, I must say. How about some exploring? In all the time I've been here, I've barely seen any of Rome at all.'

'Will that not be dangerous?' I asked him as he helped me to my feet. 'We could be discovered again and this time not by an ally. We cannot afford to take such a risk, Godric.'

'Yes, my beloved, but what is life without a few risks?' he grinned as he fastened my cloak over me, bringing the hood up so that my hair was covered and my face was partially hidden under the shadow of the hood. He took my hand and we left our sacred ruins into the night, following the way back to my house. However, we did not return to the place of confinement where I was the lady of the house and Godric the lowly slave. I longed for a world that did not judge the love we shared which was so pure and passionate that the word 'love' was too kind. I wanted to live in a place where I could kiss him without fear of watching eyes or lightly hold his hand without the danger of hushed whispers. I wanted freedom, now more than ever.

Wandering through the streets of Rome in the late hours of the evening was an activity I had never experienced. I found myself more reckless than I had ever been before and I was revelling in it, the adrenaline pulsing through me with every step, every second. Nearly all were sleeping soundly in their beds and only a few candles in open windows shed some light on the darkened pathways. We came across a villa that I knew had been abandoned some years ago; it was said among the gossiping wives that the master of the house had gone mad after being plagued by evil spirits and disappeared one night many years. I thought it nonsense, an old wives' tale, but the story made perfect sense of the fact that no one had even entered, let alone lived in the villa in years.

'Come on, Aurora,' Godric whispered, gently pulling me towards the empty villa. I followed him and found myself entering a place of darkness with hardly light at all. It made me think of the ghosts that could be lurking here and I gripped Godric's hand tighter than before.

'Godric ... ' I whispered, the fear in my voice rising as I struggled to find him in the darkness.

'Do not worry, my beloved,' he assured me. 'I'm here. It's all right.'

'Godric, where are we going?' I asked him, but I received no answer. He seemed as though he knew where he was going; his determined walk told me that he had something in mind for this place despite the fact that I had never been here with him.

We reached a room that was filled with dozens of candles, the flames flickering gently and bathing the room in a warm orange glow. There was a large bed at the back, covered in white sheets, and on top of the sheets lay a single rose. On the window sill at the side of the bed were two goblets that were filled with wine. I struggled to even contemplate what I was seeing and turned to Godric with a look that begged him to tell me what all this was. He was smiling coyly and watching me with an apprehension as if he was waiting for my opinion, my judgement.

'Do you like it?' he asked softly.

'Godric,' I breathed, my eyes taking in every last detail. 'It's ... _beautiful. _But I do not understand ... how did you do all of this?'

'Your brother gave me the candles and I found the sheets in your house. I've been planning this for quite some time.'

'Is this a celebration?' I asked.

'Of our love? Because that is always cause for a celebration. I wanted to do something special for you, my beloved, something you and I would remember for the rest of our lives.'

'I will always remember this,' I whispered and our lips met, dissolving any chance of talk or discussion indefinitely.

The kiss turned fiery and passionate instantly, Godric's tongue slipping into my mouth and massaging my own tongue. I responded with equal strength and I made my own move by planting kisses along his jaw line and his neck, up towards his ear. Godric must have had the same idea and got there before me, his lips gently kissing along my neck until he reached my earlobe which he lightly sucked and teased with his tongue. I groaned in ecstasy and waited until he had finished before I made my comeback and took his lips for my own. After a good while of this, I turned to look at the bed and I could only stand there, almost transfixed and rendered unable to move, as Godric kissed along my neck and my collarbone from behind me, earning shivers and quiet moans from me.

'Godric ... ' I whispered in my lightest tone. 'I am ready for this.' I turned to face him and took both his hands in my own, locking his eyes with mine. 'I _want_ you ... all of you. I cannot bear to wait a second longer.'

'Neither can I, my love,' he confessed before his hands slowly moved down my body which ached for his touch. He then swept me up into his arms and I giggled, filled with ecstasy and overwhelming affection for the man I loved.

Godric carried me to the bed and lay me down in the centre as gently as he could before he heaved himself onto the bed and lay next to me, looking at me, one hand lightly stroking my face, the other resting on my stomach. He reached forward and pressed his lips to mine softly, murmuring more to himself than to me.

'So ... ' He kissed me again. ' ... so ... ' He then kissed my neck, lingering a little longer this time. ' ... beautiful ... '

I bit my lip as he sat up on his knees in order to take off his shirt, casting the clothes of his slave status away from the pair of us. His bare chest was a canvas filled with tattoos of all different colours, each one as beautiful and intricate as the last. I pulled myself up so that I was kneeling in front of him, eye level with him. I had never felt this level of emotion for someone before and I doubted that I would ever feel it again for someone other than Godric.

'I love you,' he murmured.

'And I love you,' I answered him.

I ran my hands over his chest, feeling his soft and warm flesh underneath my fingertips and busied myself with placing the sweetest of kisses along his collarbone and shoulder, occasionally going further and placing one by where his heart was situated. Meanwhile, Godric had unfastened one of the pins at the top of my dress and the fabric slipped off me, revealing me to him. I decided to relinquish my own task and help him along by unfastening the other pin, letting the dress completely fall to my knees. I tossed it from the bed and I then rid myself of the toga that separated my body from Godric's. Godric ripped off his trousers and we were now naked, glorying in the wonder of each other's bodies. Our hands reached and touched; our lips caressed and kissed. Godric guided me back to the bed and our fiery passion play resumed once more as our lips found each other again. Then, Godric's lips travelled further as one hand gently caressed one of my breasts whilst his lips made their way down to my stomach. As we became one for the first time, a passion raced through me, a rush of feelings and emotions, an explosion of love and elation and rapture. I had ever felt more alive, more loved.

Godric was right. I would never forget that night, not for as long as I lived.

* * *

><p>I woke up the next night, my eyes opening widely and suddenly after my dream. But could it really be considered a dream? It seemed so real. It had happened, a long time ago, yet I could still feel Godric's lips on my flesh, the touch of his hand on my body ... I closed my eyes again, just once, to see his face, the face I cherished more than any other. Now he existed only in my memory. There would be no reunion for us, not like there had been up until he died. We would meet every decade or so when we could no longer bear to be apart from one another. I wished that I would wake up from this nightmare of not having him tread the same earth as me and find him there waiting. No amount of wishing and hoping would bring back my beloved Godric, my adored maker, my true love.<p>

The phone rang then, sharp and piercing. I scrambled out of my coffin as gracefully as I could, which really took no effort at all. I had never been clumsy so the grace came naturally to me, a trait only heightened upon becoming an immortal. I pressed a green button on the phone and held it to my ear, waiting to hear the voice of the caller.

'Hello?'

'Who's your favourite witch?'

I grinned as I properly greeted my good friend. 'Good evening, Onyx. Good timing, by the way. I've just woken up.'

'From your coma-like sleep?' Onyx laughed. 'That's not sleep, honey. That's something ... death like. Have I mentioned that before?'

'Twice. Both times when you've entered my house and opened my coffin while I was sleeping because you couldn't be bothered waiting until sundown.'

I heard Onyx grit her teeth together. 'Oh yeah. Impatience is one of my favourite traits.'

I laughed along with her. 'So what do you have for me?'

Onyx waited for a few seconds before speaking once more, this time in a saddened tone, soaked in sympathy. 'I'm sorry, Aurora. I haven't found a cure for your brother.'

My heart sank within my chest. I expected this result after mine and Pam's entanglement with Tara, Lafayette and the brujo last night. I just clung onto the hope that Onyx would provide me with a second option to help save my brother in his new, vulnerable state.

'Only the witch who cast the spell can reverse it, especially with a spell this strong.'

'Strong?' I repeated.

'It must be. To have wiped a vampire's memory requires a great deal of magic, more than the average witch or coven can produce.'

I nodded at this and cast my sadness aside. 'I thought you would say something along those lines. That's why Pam and I are going to meet the witch who cast this ... curse on Eric tomorrow night.'

'Aurora, you must be careful,' Onyx warned. 'If this witch is capable of casting this kind of spell on a vampire as old and strong as Eric, they're bound to be powerful. They could ... '

'Curse me?' I asked and laughed shortly. 'I've been cursed by witches before, Onyx.'

'You have? Seriously?'

'Of course. You don't live for as long as I have without coming into contact with witches. And sometimes witches don't particularly want to associate themselves with vampires.'

'I know you're strong enough, but please ... You're my friend. I don't want you hurt.'

'Thank you for the warnings. I'll try and heed them.'

* * *

><p>'Are you ready?' Pam said, waiting at my door. She was dressed in her usual Fangtasia garb with her hair long and loose and her makeup done immaculately.<p>

I nodded sombrely and looked myself up and down in the mirror. I was dressed demurely in a black leather jacket and jeans, with my hair tied back in a ponytail. I was ready to fix my brother and meet the witch who had cursed him. I knew that Pam would be uncontrollable should the witch do something untoward; she was already pushed to her limits by this whole saga. I had to be there to make sure she did not do something we would both regret, especially considering that there was a powerful necromancer involved.

Pam and I started silently, zooming in vampire speed, to the appointed meeting place. Pam loved making an entrance and it appeared that she had got one when the four people standing in the field jumped at the sight of the two vampires suddenly stood in the grassy woodlands. I saw the three from the other night and a new one – this must have been the witch, this Marnie. I was confused to behold this meek and seemingly scared woman; surely she could not be the feared necromancer that had bestowed upon Eric such a deadly curse. She looked upon Pam and I with fear as she wrung her hands together. Appearances could be deceiving, I thought. Maybe there was more to her.

'Don't try anything,' Tara said, pulling out a gun that I knew would surely be loaded with wooden bullets.

'Honey, that's cute,' Pam sneered. 'I'm just here to get my maker fixed.'

'Good,' Tara said firmly. 'We get Eric fixed and no one gets hurt.'

'Of course,' I said, stepping in with a low bow of my head, to indicate that this was to be kept.

The brujo started to draw a circle of salt – a special grain of witches – around this Marnie who was in turn surrounded by a circle of candles and I knew that soon the spell would be lifted. I could not wait for my Eric to come home, for the brother I had found and lost in such a short period of time.

'You're not like Pam, are you?' he said to me in a soft tone, wary of me but willing to make conversation with me.

'How do you mean?' I asked warily.

'You're not threatening to kill us and eat us,' he pointed out.

'I'm not like Pam, then, no,' I chuckled and thought of a different approach to gain his trust. '_¿Eres un brujo, no?'_

He recognized the Spanish and responded in the same language. '_Si, ¿sabes de magica?'_

I nodded and decided to revert back to English. 'Only a little. I've dealt with witches before.'

'And when you say 'dealt' ... '

'I didn't kill them, if that's what you mean. I have had run-ins with them, of course. What is your name by the way? I only know you as the brujo.'

He chuckled and held out his hand for me to shake. 'I'm Jesus.'

'How am I expected to repair a vampire if he isn't here?' Marnie said, trembling.

Jesus shot me a knowing look, signalling that it was beginning, and retreated back to where Tara and Lafayette stood.

'That's your problem,' Pam said in an unapologetic tone. 'Reverse the spell or I'll bite your fucking head off.'

'Pam,' I hissed under my breath.

Tara, gun in hand, retaliated with, 'Then, you'll never get Eric.'

'If you guys are so lame you can't even turn around your own magic, he's as good as dead anyway.'

'Pam, don't say things like that,' I warned her. 'Please.'

She gave me a look that told me that she knew what she was doing and that, despite my authority over her as her senior, I was not to interfere.

'Well, so are you, bitch,' Lafayette said. 'Ain't nobody hear to keep you safe – '

'There's me,' I snarled at Lafayette, showing my fangs momentarily. 'She is my niece and I will protect her until every last breath has gone from my body.'

Pam stiffened for a moment at these words and turned back to Lafayette. 'There's always a special place in my dungeon for you, Lafayette.'

I did not need to fully understand the context of that sentence to know that the mere thought scared Lafayette and he remained silent, stepping back away from Pam even though Tara was in front of him like a shield.

Jesus meanwhile had been thumbing through a book that I presumed to be full of spell and charms. 'This is the one.'

'I can't – I can't find my glasses,' Marnie blubbered.

'They're right here,' Jesus said and handed them to her helpfully.

'Are you fucking retarded?' Pam cried out in an outburst that would not guarantee her safety much longer.

'Shut the fuck up or we won't even try,' Tara snapped back.

'Make her fucking do something.'

Marnie, spell book in hand, glasses perched on her nose, said, 'Stop saying 'fuck'. I can't concentrate.'

Pam turned in frustration and walked towards me in a pacing stride. 'They'd better get a move on.'

'They would, if you didn't keep insulting them. Pam, these are witches and necromancers. They're dangerous.'

'That blubbering hag isn't dangerous,' Pam retorted. 'Keep out of this, Aurora.'

'I will not,' I growled. 'Eric is my brother – '

'He's my maker. He made me. He only just found out about your existence. When will you realise that I need him more than you? Just because you're clinging onto Godric with all your strength – '

'Don't you dare bring Godric into this,' I snarled, fangs bared at my impudent niece, as she impatiently walked back.

'North, south, east, west,' Marnie chanted as she made a variety of gestures. 'Goddess of memory, goddess of time, heal your wayward son of the underworld, Eric Northman. Bathe him in Hades, in your pool of remembrance – '

'This is bullshit,' interrupted Pam; she really was digging her own grave now.

Marnie closed the book and removed her glasses swiftly, dropping the book of spells to the floor. The wind was picking up and swirling around us.

'Pam, no,' I said firmly.

Pam continued, ignoring me completely. 'Listen, bitch, I don't have time for this. Fix my maker.'

'Pam, stop!' I cried out as she rushed forward, only to be stopped by Marnie's hand in front of her.

The wind howling around us, I cried Pam's name as Marnie began to chant in a voice that was not her own. Was she possessed? Or was this really her power? She began to say Latin words, familiar to me from my human life, in a spell said with such vehemence and vengeance that I could never fully describe. When she stopped her curse, I glanced at Pam. She was still there, not having been cast into oblivion, but there was something different and it was on her face.

'Pam, no,' I whispered sadly.

Her face was rotting away as if the years she had cheated when she became a vampire were finally catching up to her. Half of her face remained as beautiful as normal, but the other side was rotted and worn, the flesh hanging onto her face. I could not take my eyes off her in horror; this was powerful and dangerous magic. Pam had goaded her on and now Marnie, or whatever power had done this, had punished her by making the thing Pam prized the most – her looks and her beauty – rot away into dead flesh.

Marnie then spoke in Spanish, which I found strange. I looked now upon her not with the pity I once felt, but with fear. First she took Eric's memory and now she had taken Pam's beauty. What else was she capable of?

'_Corrupt, unsanctified corpse that walks, behold your true self.'_

Pam screamed and then disappeared into the darkness. I called after her and made my way to face Marnie, my fangs bared and ready to tear her apart for what she had done, but I saw a look in her eyes and I knew that she could do much worse to me if I should retaliate.

'Go, my beloved,' said a familiar voice from behind me, into my ear. 'Run fast and run now. You cannot win this. Not yet. And I will not have you hurt as Eric and Pam have been. Go now.'

I listened to the voice of my deceased Godric and with one final look of hatred cast in Marnie's direction, I turned and ran after my niece, determined to stop this necromancer before I found myself in her line of fire.


	28. Chapter 28

'Look at my face!'

'Pam – '

'Look what that _bitch_ did to my beautiful face!'

I could not help but sigh in discontent. Pam had been screaming this for the best part of two hours, her peeling face worsened by the untouched flow of blood tears. I wanted to shake her and tell her that this screaming would not help matters, that it certainly would not get her beauty back any quicker. However, there seemed to be no convincing her otherwise. For now, she was beyond my reasoning.

'I'll kill her, Aurora!' she fumed, her eyes as flaming as the witch who had caused her this anguish. 'I will fucking – '

'There's no need for that kind of language, Pamela,' I chided her. 'It's not going to help matters, is it?'

'It will sure do _me _some good,' she growled and was silent again, her anger succumbing to sadness now, with more tears flowing than profanities. 'Aurora, look what she's done ... to Eric ... to me ... '

I never thought I would live to see the day when Pam needed comfort, especially from me who she loathed unconditionally. I reached out my hand and touched her shoulder gently. She stiffened at this gesture and looked at me with saddened eyes, allowing me to see the full force of the witch's dark spell. Pam was barely recognizable; strips of flesh clung to the bones of her face but in time, they would rot away as the rest of her face had done. Streams of blood stained her ruined cheeks and her clothes as she continued to weep for her fallen beauty.

'Help me,' she pleaded. 'Fix me.'

'You know that there is nothing in my power I can do to fix this,' I whispered, taking both her shoulders so that she was facing me. 'I would fix you and Eric in a heartbeat if I had it in my power, but I don't. I am ... powerless.'

'And at two thousand years old, as one of the oldest vampires in the world, that must be damn annoying,' Pam managed to state with a spark of her unique humour.

I nodded softly, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. I was stronger than nearly every vampire I had ever encountered, but against this one woman, I was totally powerless. I was a mere puppet to her. I could be commanded and cursed as Eric and Pam had been.

'It really is,' I said softly. 'But we can do something. We're not completely powerless, at least not yet ... '

'What did you have in mind?' Pam croaked.

It took me a few moments to formulate a plan in my mind, the idea flowing as fast as the words on my tongue. 'Go and see the King. Compton or whatever his name is.'

'Bill? You seriously want me to go and see Bill?'

'Yes. He is the King of Louisiana. He must get involved.'

'But he was the one who sent Eric there in the first place. He's the reason behind this whole mess and Eric losing his memory. I'd sooner let the rest of me rot than kneel before the one who sent my maker into the lion's den.'

'Pam, don't you understand?' I said. 'Now that you have been afflicted by this witch, he has to do something. Insist that he help find this Marnie so that she will reverse the spell. Then, we'll have her cure Eric.'

Pam thought on this for a while before she nodded. 'I will go to him.'

I copied her action in agreement. 'Remember, Pam. He cannot know Eric's affliction or his whereabouts. He'll have Eric meet the True Death for supposedly endangering the safety of our kind. You can't imagine the danger it is having an amnesiac vampire somewhere in Louisiana, especially what with everything Russell Edgington did to ruin what we have built.'

Pam noted, 'That bit about Russell was very bitter, I noticed. Had a few run-ins with him?'

My hand curled into a fist as I thought of the vampire, the _creature_, who had maintained a habit of ruining things in my immortal life. 'Yes ... I guess you could say that.'

Pam nodded, knowing that this was a conversation best left alone, and made her way up the stairs of Eric's mansion. My brows furrowed as I made my way to the top of the stairs in the blink of a human eye.

'I thought you were going to see Bill.'

'I am, bossy boots,' Pam murmured. 'But I must make myself look ... presentable.'

It killed Pam to say something like this; normally, she would say something along the lines of 'goddess-like' or 'more voluptuous'. The Pam standing before me was completely different to the one I had met in Fangtasia so long ago. The fire was still there, but its beautiful frame had been shattered, beyond all recognizable and known repair.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

I was sitting at the fountain in the courtyard of my home when Cassius bounded in, Godric following close behind. He leapt from one servant to another, obvious delight on his face, asking them in a hurried voice where I was. I stood and he saw me instantly, rushing forward and lifting me high into the air in the same way that he did when we were children in this very spot.

'Sister, it is a bright and beautiful day!' he exclaimed as he set me back on my feet.

'My brother, what joy have the gods bestowed upon you?' I said, laughing as I clasped his face in my hands. 'Is everything all right?'

'Better than all right, Aurora. Much better. I bring joyous news and – where's Godric?'

'Here, Master Cassius,' Godric chuckled as he made his way to stand beside me, touching my hand fleetingly in an affectionate manner. 'Tell your sister, Cassius, before you burst with joy.'

'Yes, Cassius, tell me!' I cried out.

Cassius took a deep breath and smiled, showing me the brightest beam my eyes had ever found themselves beholding. 'Lucretia has had her child.'

My mouth dropped open and my hands, clamped now on his hands, squeezed tightly. I was an aunt. My sister had brought a wondrous life into this world. I said a thankful prayer to the gods and for my sister's health.

'How is she?' I pressed Cassius for answers. 'And the baby? How are they both?'

'Calm yourself, sister,' Cassius chuckled. 'She is well, as is the baby. It is a boy. They have a son.'

'And Father has his heir,' I whispered, mostly to myself than to either my brother or Godric, before I rushed forward, leaving both boys in my wake. 'I must see her.'

'Then, we will all go,' Cassius said as we hurriedly made our way to the villa Fabricius and Lucretia owned. 'Although, they have not had time yet to miss us.'

'We have only just left,' Godric explained as he kept pace with me, leaving my brother a few steps behind. 'Your brother wanted to call in on his sister and discovered that she was in labour. After hearing his first cries, we both agreed that we had to rush back and inform you.'

'But she was not due to give birth for another month,' I said, concerned. 'Have the physicians and the midwife thoroughly checked that she and the baby are safe?'

'Yes,' Godric said exasperatedly, amused by my fervent attitude. 'You worry too much, Aurora.'

'And you do not worry enough, Godric,' I teased him as I sped up faster, eager to see my sister and greet my nephew.

I arrived at the villa where I was greeted by my elated father, who kissed both of my cheeks, his eyes sparkling and his grin far wider than I had ever seen. I passed my brother-in-law and took his hand as he smiled at me and led me through to a little room where my sister – my beautiful, wonderful sister – sat, cradling a bundle that contained my nephew. She seemed to be talking to him as she rocked him gently back and forth. I made no sound but she somehow seemed to sense my presence and looked up at me, her lips breaking into a smile.

'Aurora,' she sighed. Words failed her then and she looked down at the bundle before slowly looking back up at me, her eyes beckoning me forward.

I took small, lithe steps into the dimly lit room, illuminated solely by candlelight and the shimmering light of the silvery moon that cascaded in from an open window behind Lucretia. She had never looked more radiant and full of life as she sat there, bathed in moonlight, cradling her newborn son. She smiled up at me as I leant over her and kissed her forehead, peering into the bundle as I did so. The baby – _my _nephew – stared up at me with eyes bluer than lapis lazuli and skin as white as milk. His mouth broke into a smile as his mother's had done only moments previously and reached out with a tiny hand, his fingers stretching for something ...

'Little Fabricius wants to meet you,' Lucretia whispered and lifted him upwards. 'There you go, my son. Go to your Aunt Aurora.'

I carefully took my nephew into my arms and cradled him expertly as though my arms were meant to hold him. Little Fabricius watched me intently as I rocked him and his fingers found a lock of my hair to hold onto.

'Hello, little one,' I whispered. 'Look at you. You're so ... I cannot even find the words. I am going to be the best aunt that ever lived.'

'And the best godmother,' Lucretia added.

I stopped and turned to face her, so overcome with emotion that a tear rolled from my eye down my cheek. 'Godmother? You mean it?'

'Of course I mean it,' Lucretia murmured. 'Who else would I choose?'

My smile became even brighter as I looked down on my nephew, now also my godson, and had never felt such a swell of pride in my life. For as long as he lived, I would protect him.

* * *

><p>The phone rang as soon as Pam left. She had dressed as though she was going to a funeral in a black dress complete with a veiled hat to hide her rotting face from the world. It was the first time I had seen her in black and the material wasn't Latex or for the benefit of eager fangbangers. I bade her farewell, but she barely looked back as she sped off to see Bill Compton. She wanted this curse got rid of and soon.<p>

I picked up the phone and held it to my ear, not knowing who would speak on the other end. 'Hello?'

'Aurora? Is that you?' The voice belonged to none other than Sookie Stackhouse, the human hiding my amnesiac brother. I smiled as I heard her voice, timid at first but with hints of strength.

'It is indeed,' I said, smiling at the voice. 'Hello, Sookie.'

'Hey, listen, I kinda need to talk to you. It's about Eric.'

I stiffened and was alert immediately. 'What about Eric? Is he all right? What's happened?'

'Don't worry,' she assured me. 'He's fine. At least I think. He's just woken me up, saying something about a bad dream.'

'Bad dream? What did he say about this dream?'

'That there was a vampire and he wanted Eric ... to drain me. Aurora, I think he was talking about ... Godric.'

I took an involuntary step back. Eric had had a bad dream about Godric? Godric had wanted Eric to drain Sookie ... No. This was not _my _Godric, the man I loved unreservedly century after century. I had had dreams about my maker, but those were different; if I was perfectly honest, I would rather have lived in my dream world with Godric than spend one moment in reality.

'Anyway, it's spooked him,' Sookie continued. 'He's here with me now. I thought I would give you a call, seeing as you're his sister. Maybe you could talk to him ... '

'Sookie, he barely even knows who I am,' I said in a pained voice. 'How can I speak to him about Godric if he barely knows me?'

'You're going to have to try. I don't know what else I can say. Please, Aurora ... for Eric.'

At these two words, I knew that I had to go. I had to see my brother. There was no question about it. When I arrived at Sookie's house, I was greeted by a nightgown-clad Sookie, her hair loose and blowing in the wind as she opened the door to allow me entry. She smiled at me warmly as I entered and took my hand to lead me upstairs, chattering away as she did so.

'I didn't know what else to call. I thought about calling Pam, but I didn't think she would know Godric as well as you ... '

'No one knew Godric as well as I did,' I murmured to Sookie's sad smile.

'He's just through there,' she said, gesturing to her bedroom door. 'Go on in.'

I pushed it softly and it swung open to reveal a pleasant room with a bed complete with its own half-naked vampire. Eric lay curled up, cheeks reddened by blood tears he had clumsily wiped away. Upon noticing me, he leapt to his feet and stared at me, only recognizing me from our brief meeting when he had first been cursed with this memory loss.

'Eric,' I said like a tamer approaching a wild lion. 'Do you remember me?'

'Aurora, right?' he asked in a soft voice that the real Eric would never even dream of using. 'Yes, I remember you. You're my ... sister.'

I nodded and walked further into the room. 'Sookie called me. She says that you had a bad dream. Why don't you tell me about it?'

Eric looked eager to tell me, but his eyes averted to Sookie as though looking for her approval first. Sookie made a hand gesture that told him to continue before she disappeared downstairs to make a cup of tea for herself and to heat up some Tru Bloods for myself and Eric. Once she had closed the door, Eric sat back down on the bed and looked at me, waiting to begin his tale. I sat next to him, watching him as he stared off into the distance, remembering what he had witnessed. When he had finished his account, he looked at me, hoping that I would have the answers to his unanswered questions.

'I know that I'm a vampire,' he said softly. 'I know what I am. I just ... I just don't know _who_ I am.'

'Well, Godric is part of both what and who you are,' I murmured. 'He was your maker. He made you a vampire and he made you the man you are today. Without him, you wouldn't be Eric Northman.'

'But how can I be that man when I remember nothing?' he said, frustrated with himself. 'I have lost myself. Apparently the old Eric is completely different to me.'

'You're not wrong there, you know,' I muttered, suppressing a knowing grin. 'Listen, Eric, it might be comforting to you if I told you about the real Godric, not the mockery that featured in this nightmare of yours.'

Eric contemplated this for a moment and agreed. 'That would be ... good. Would you mind terribly, Aurora?'

I smiled at this sweet Eric and shook my head. 'No, of course I wouldn't.'

To my complete and utter surprise, Eric made himself comfortable and laid his head in my lap, one hand resting on my knee, the other behind his head. I was taken aback by this, but I fell into the rhythm and as I spoke, I absentmindedly stroked his hair, watching his eyes close as he listened intently to my words.

'Godric was the best man I have ever known,' I began. 'He found me and brought me to a world of night and stars. We walked the world together for many years and then he found you. He made you his son, his brother, his father ... '

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

Godric, Cassius and I strolled home, taking our sweet time, savouring each and every moment together. I was elatedly happy; nothing could bring me down today. I was an aunt and a godmother to a beautiful baby boy. I had my Godric, the love of my life. And I had my brother, my lifelong companion and my best friend. It seemed as though the gods were smiling at me from above.

'You looked at home with Fabricius in your arms, my sweet love,' Godric remarked as we walked together through the streets of Rome that led to our villa. 'You glowed almost as much as Lucretia did.'

'You think so, Godric? I had never been happier than with him in my arms.'

Godric pretended to be stung by this. 'And what about me? Here I am, cast out of your affections by a boy who is not even a day old.'

I quickly kissed him on the lips to stop him from speaking. 'You know that I love you and being in your arms is the place where I would gladly spend the rest of my days.'

'In that case then, I guess I can share you with Fabricius.'

I grinned and looked forward at Cassius who was walking ahead of us, not wanting to intrude on the private moment between Godric and I. He also served as lookout so that our affection could be hidden away quickly and out of sight in seconds.

'Well, look who it is,' said a voice from the shadows of one of the houses.

We three turned, stiffening at the voice; I grasped Godric's hand tightly to stop me leaping on this person and clawing his eyes out with my bare hands. Brutus Tiberius emerged, staggering from side to side, his clothes dirty, his hair matted. I could even smell the wine on him from where I was standing and it repulsed me, making me sick to my stomach. He staggered closer and closer. I felt Godric tense up and Cassius stand closer to me, surrounding me like a barricade. They were protecting me. From what, I could not say, but it terrified me to even think about it.

'You know,' he continued, 'that isn't the best greeting for your fellow soldier, Cassius.'

'Get yourself home, Brutus,' Cassius growled sternly. 'You are drunk. Go home and leave us be.'

'Hello, Aurora,' Brutus said, ignoring Cassius and leering at me. 'I've been thinking a lot about you lately. Especially during the night ... '

Godric lunged forward, ready for his fist to collide with Brutus' face, to kill him where he stood. I held him back, crying out for him.

'No, Godric, don't! He is not worth even the dirt beneath your feet.'

'Harsh words, Aurora,' Brutus leered. 'Maybe I can sweeten them for you ... '

'I give you one last warning, Brutus,' Cassius said, trying hard to keep his anger under control. 'Go home.'

'And I give _you _a warning, Cassius Soranus. Do not toy with me.'

Then, Brutus produced a knife, the blade directed at my brother. I gasped as I noted the recently sharpened blade. I did not want my brother or my Godric hurt. I could not bear that.

Cassius saw the blade and placed one hand behind him so that I was pushed further back, away from him. Godric did the same, knowing that violence could only ensue if we were not very careful. It was obvious that this knife was meant for me, that its blade was meant to pierce my skin and spill my blood. However, there was no way that I was going to stand by and allow either boy to risk his life to protect him.

'Do you know that my father knows about the disturbance at your villa?' Brutus continued, playing with the knife, knowing how it unsettled the three of us. 'Apparently one of the guests found the need to inform my lord and master. Do you know what he did? He cut me off. He said that I did not deserve a single penny until I learned to better himself.'

'Your father is an intelligent man,' Cassius commented.

'So you would think,' Brutus sneered. 'As for me, I've been keeping myself busy at the whorehouse. Plenty of wine and food. The company's not bad either. Although, I am missing my favourite whore ... '

It did not take long to figure out that he was talking about me. I had never felt more disgusted and I could almost feel his hot breath on me again, his hands on my flesh ... At this, Godric leapt at him, fists curled and ready to do whatever damage he could. His fist collided with Brutus' face and he fell back a little, but he swung the knife, narrowly missing Godric's stomach. Cassius knew that it was time to intercede, but I did not know whether his intentions were to stop the fight or to finish what Godric had started.

'Stay back, Aurora,' he commanded me, pushing me further away. 'Stay back. You'll get hurt.'

I cared nothing for myself or my own well being. My attention was now fully concentrated on my Godric as he expertly dived every attack Brutus clumsily launched, but he was close to being cut on many occasions, making my heart stop momentarily. Cassius ran at him, tackling him to the ground where they both landed with a sharp thud. Then, I heard Godric reach for the knife, to prise it from Brutus' hands before he did some serious damage. He grabbed it and Brutus knew that he had been defeated, struggling only slightly now. My brother knelt on top of him, his weight keeping him firmly pressed to the ground, unable to move.

'Godric, give me the knife,' Cassius commanded.

Godric reluctantly passed it to him and walked back to me, his eyes not leaving Cassius until they reached me. He held me for a few moments before holding me at arms' length to check that I was all right.

'Godric,' I whispered. 'I'm fine, my love.'

'I was only checking, my beloved,' he assured me as we turned back to Cassius.

I had never seen him this angry before. His face was reddened and his eyes were burning brightly; the words he spoke to Brutus were said with such venom that it took me a few moments to come to the terms with the fact that it was my twin brother saying them.

'My sister is not a whore,' Cassius hissed ferociously. 'She is an innocent, who you revile at every opportunity. You sought to violate her both physically and with your words.'

'Then, you don't know her at all then,' Brutus managed to get out before Cassius brought the knife down so that the blade was only inches away from his throat. That soon stopped him talking.

'I am not finished,' he snarled. 'If you ever so much as look at her again, I will find a good place to stick this blade. I warn you now and I want you to take this as my final warning. This is not a threat. This is a promise. Stay away from Aurora, or I will kill you.'

'If I don't get to him first,' Godric murmured, loud enough for them both to hear.

Cassius glanced back at the both of us and nodded sternly before turning back to Brutus. 'Go. Get yourself back to whichever hole you have climbed out of like a sewer rat. And I warn you now. Leave _my _sister be.'

I watched as the knife was cast away to Brutus' side and Cassius stood, taking every opportunity to stamp on whatever body part he could. He walked over to us and I threw my arms around him, holding him as though he was about to disappear.

'It's all right, Aurora,' he whispered into my ear, squeezing me tightly. 'No one will harm – '

I heard it all, but it was too late. I could do nothing. I heard a scuffle and a intake of hot, angered breath as Brutus rushed forward and cut my brother's words off. I released my brother slowly as our eyes both followed the trail down to the place where the knife had entered his side. Cassius' eyes filled with horror as mine did, seeing Brutus standing behind him, almost as terrified as we were. It seemed that he had had no idea that he would do such a thing and he looked at the knife, lodged in my brother's body, as though something had come over him to cause this attack.

'Cassius!' I screamed and Brutus stepped away, falling over himself, lying there and watching the scene unfold in his very eyes.

Cassius fell to the ground and I fell with him to my knees, holding him in my arms, soaking myself in his blood. Godric knelt on the other side, watching him intently. I could do nothing but cry for him and stroke his hair, my eyes forbidden to look at the wound.

'Cassius, stay with me,' I begged him, the tears falling thick and fast. 'Cassius. Don't you dare leave me.'

'Aurora,' he croaked, his voice hoarse and weakened. 'It's all right.'

He stretched up a hand, drenched in his own blood, up to my face to wipe away my tears; however, this only made me cry harder and with a free hand, I held onto his as tight as I ever had, knowing that it was coming. The time was coming ...

'You will be fine,' I almost commanded him. 'You'll be fine. We just need to get a physician.'

I looked to Godric now who watched me with saddened eyes, tears forming himself. He looked at me in despair and I could not help but cry out to him in frustration. Why wasn't he doing anything? Why? Unless he knew that there was nothing to be done. Godric knew that my brother could not be saved.

'Aurora,' he whispered.

'No,' I shot back. 'Godric, go and get a physician. Tell him it is urgent. Tell him that Cassius Soranus is hurt. Tell – ' Words failed me and my voice rose until I was screaming at my beloved, my anguish fully consuming me. 'Do something, Godric! Help him! We have to ... help him ... Please ... '

Godric stopped me with a whisper of my name. 'Aurora ... it's too late. I'm so sorry, but ... it's just too late.'

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. I tried to convince myself that Godric was wrong and that Cassius was going to be well and recover from this injury as he had recovered from so many in the past. However, he was right. The heavy loss of blood, Cassius' ragged breathing, his body slowing becoming more still ...

I was losing him. I was losing my brother.

'Aurora,' Cassius groaned. 'Look ... at me.' I did as he begged and I saw his fingers fumble around a bracelet he wore every day, a childhood keepsake that he had had for as long as I could remember. 'Take ... this. Take it.'

He pressed the bracelet into my hand and looked at me with intense eyes, the only things that seemed to be alive now that his body was dying. 'Promise me, sister. Make me ... one last promise.'

'Cassius, please,' I begged him. He was accepting his fate. He was giving up. 'Do not give up on me. I can't lose you.'

'Listen ... to me. I want you ... to promise me something, Aurora,' he whispered, watching me nod softly. 'I want you to _live_. Live to the best of your ability. Live a long and happy life. Do everything you want to do, not what you are allowed or told. Love whoever you want. Live, Aurora ... '

I clasped his hand tightly with my hand, the bracelet entwined in my fingers, and kissed his forehead. 'I will, Cassius ... I will.'

Cassius attempted a smile but he was overcome with pain and he shuddered in my arms. He reached for Godric's arms and their eyes locked as Cassius' weakened voice uttered three words, words that needed no further explanation or reasoning.

'Protect her, Godric.'

Godric nodded solemnly and clasped Cassius' shoulder. 'I will ... brother.'

Cassius looked back to me and watched me as more tears fell onto his body. 'Don't cry for me, Aurora. Mother will look after me. We have so much to talk about ... '

I sensed that his time was coming. My brother, my best friend, was leaving me. 'I love you, brother.'

'I love you too, sister of mine,' he murmured and smiled his signature grin at me, looking skyward, his eyes filled with such life. I watched as the light left my brother's eyes, his breathing slow down and his body fall still. Despite knowing that he was gone and would never come back, I shook him, hoping for this to be a miracle and he would be revived. He was gone. Cassius was gone.


	29. Chapter 29

Rome

I sat there for what seemed like a lifetime, holding my brother's body in my arms, sobbing into his hair. I whispered to him, even though he would not hear a word, willing him to return to me. I could not bear the pain wrenching my heart; I had never known agony like this and I prayed that I would never feel it again. I knew now that there was a great cost for having Cassius as both my twin brother and my best friend. Losing one was hard enough. Now I had lost the only person in the world who had truly understood me, the only one who had been there for me since my first steps on this earth. I had lost him.

I glanced up, my vision blurred by tears, and saw Godric, his head bowed over Cassius, tears falling slowly. He looked at me in return and I saw the despair in his eyes. He had lost his friend too, I could not forget that. I could not bear to look at him lest the tears fall more heavily and frequently than they already did. It was then that I glimpsed the knife that had clattered to the ground when my brother fell. It was still stained with his blood, the life force it had snatched away. I did not know what came over me next. My eyes saw the knife and Brutus sitting there, staring at the scene with horrified eyes; my mind told my muscles to move and all thought was suspended.

I leapt to my feet, throwing Cassius' corpse into Godric's arms, ignoring Godric's cry of my name. Nothing else mattered now, not now that Cassius was dead, taken from me. I snatched the knife off the ground easily and held it facing Brutus. He looked terrified, his eyes fixed on the blade, panting like a helpless animal. I was glad of his fear. I revelled in it. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to slash the knife at his skin and to spill his blood just as easily and heartlessly as he had spilled my brother's. It was my first moment of bloodlust, the first of many more yet to come.

'Aurora, stop!' Godric said, racing up to me. I swiveled on my heel, holding the knife wildly up to my beloved in order to stop him coming any closer. He clearly understood my warning and stopped, watching powerlessly as I turned back to Brutus.

'Are you satisfied?' I hissed in a tone I did not know I could produce. 'Are you? My brother is _dead_ because of you.'

'I'm so sorry,' he whispered. 'I didn't mean ... I don't know what came over me ... '

'You plunged a knife into his side and you don't know what came over you? Well, maybe something will come over me and cause me to cut your throat!'

I felt Godric's hand on my arm and his voice in my ear, soft and calm. 'Aurora, please ... Put the knife down, my love ... '

'Why should I?' I hissed, tears forming in my eyes. 'Why should I spare him when he did not spare Cassius? I want to _hurt_ him, Godric.'

'I know you do, my Aurora, I know. But be the better person. Do not shed his blood. Spare him.'

'Just as he spared my brother?' I snarled.

'My love, do not ruin your own life in taking his. Is that what Cassius would have wanted?'

I stopped and thought of my brother's dying words. In his last few moments on this earth, he had told me to live. I had promised him that I would live a long and happy life. What kind of life would be given to me if I avenged him and took Brutus' life? I would be executed and my dead brother's promise cast aside. I could not do that.

I cast the knife away with one final look at my brother's murderer and turned back to Cassius' body, lying there in the street. I slowly walked back to him and held him once again in my arms, singing a lullaby I had sang to him when he were children. I thought of the life that had been snatched away from him, the life he could have had. He would have gone to war and returned home a hero, marrying the prettiest, sweetest girl in the city and having as many children as they wanted. I imagined my brother's future, the one he would never had.

The tears fell.

* * *

><p>I was restless waiting for Pam to return. I needed news, something to get me through whatever would be thrown at me next. I was tense and on edge, desperate for some sign that Pam had spoken to the King and that something was going to be done about these witches. They were dangerous – well, at least this Marnie was. But that fire behind her eyes was not normal, at least in witches I had encountered. The magic did not come from within her blood; it came from her body as though something else was inhabiting it. Was she possessed? Was that the reason behind her great, terrible power?<p>

The phone rang and I all but leapt to grab it. I pressed it to my ear and for once, I was delighted to hear Pam's droll voice at the other end of the line.

'You have been summoned.'

I was taken aback by this greeting that I was not expecting and frowned. 'What?'

'The King wants to see you. I told him that this witch needed to be told what's what. She's here now, in his dungeon.'

'Marnie is there? Pam – '

'Before you go on your witchy danger bluster, it's fine. Bill went down to talk to her, ended up glamouring her. Guess what?'

'She can't reverse the spell on Eric,' I gathered from her tone. 'And the curse on you.'

'Ding, ding, ding,' she said in a tone that was beyond irritated; I could almost hear the venom dripping from her words. 'The idiot doesn't even know how she cast both of them, let alone how to reverse them.'

'Well, what does the King want with me?'

'He wants to speak to you about what happened to me, your take on it.'

'Why me?' I pressed her for answers.

'You're the oldest vampire in the area,' Pam continued. 'You've come across witches in your oh so long life. Bill hasn't. He wants to know more about what witches are capable of.'

I rolled my eyes, knowing that this summons was not one that I could take lightly and ignore. 'Tell your King that I will be there within the hour.'

The moment I found myself in front of the King's enormous, gleaming mansion, I knew that I was wandering into dangerous territory. The guards at the gate checked me over for any weapons whilst I rolled my eyes and passed them, wanting to get the interrogation that I knew awaited me over and done with. I was shown to an office, alien to the rest of the mansion due its modern look, and told that the King would be with me shortly. I did not sit because I felt uneasy so I stood in the centre of the room. My eyes wavered on all corners and all parts of the office, noticing cameras and various security gadgets. The computer screen was flickering in front of me, half-turned to face me. It depicted a prison, gleaming white and almost blinding, where a shaking Marnie sat on the sole piece of furniture, a bed-like object. I went closer to the screen and watched her as she chanted what I could only imagine to be spells of protection to get her through her hour of need. How could someone so weak produce powers that were so strong? Maybe she _was _possessed ...

'Miss Aurora,' drawled a Southern accent from behind me. I turned my head to find Bill Compton standing there, fixing his red tie. 'I'm so thankful that you came.'

I dipped my head in a respectful manner and watched him cautiously as he made his way round to his desk, his eyes never leaving me as he did so.

'My niece informed me that I had been summoned,' I said as he sat down in his chair. 'Naturally, I was obliged to come.'

'Ah, your niece,' he mused. 'I've seen her face, what the witch has done to her. Terrible thing to happen to anyone, let alone Pam.'

I bowed my head sadly. 'Truly it is. A terrible thing that I have been told cannot be undone.'

Bill grimaced and clasped his hands together in a business like fashion. 'Yes, I have glamoured the witch, this Marnie, and she has no clue as to how she cast the spell or how she can reverse it. For the meantime, Pam is stuck the way she is.'

'A rotting corpse,' I said, echoing Marnie's words used in the spell that had harmed my niece.

'Now, Miss Aurora, I called you here because I am in great need of your extensive knowledge.'

'I know what that means. I'm two thousand years old and you want to know about my time with witches.'

'Time with witches? I had heard that you have had your dealings with them ... '

'The witches I had my _dealings_ with were not capable of the acts of magic that I have seen Marnie do. I was, and still am, acquainted with a family whose whole line has not even half the magic she possesses.'

'You saw Marnie cast the spell on Pam?'

'I did. I saw it all and I know that she is dangerous.'

Bill heaved a sigh and looked at me evocatively. 'I have an ulterior motive for bringing you here, Aurora. I summoned you to learn about this witch, but also, to question you on your brother's whereabouts.'

If my heart were still beating, it would have frozen at this very moment. I was calm and still, unmoving, a statue. I could not let him know about Eric. It was far too dangerous.

'My brother's whereabouts?' I asked dumbly.

Bill closed his eyes and opened them in a glare. 'I have already questioned his progeny but she claims to have no idea where he is. The loyalty of a progeny to a maker is second to none so even if she does know, she would not tell me. As you are his sister – '

'You think I know where he is. Your Majesty, if Pam, Eric's beloved child and companion for at least a century, does not know where he is, then surely I, his recently-discovered sister, would not have a damn clue.'

'I will ask you once more. Do you know where Eric is?'

'No, I do not,' I said firmly. 'I have not seen him at all.'

Bill nodded, not knowing whether to really take my word for it. 'Your loyalty to your brother is astounding, but to lie to me is treason.'

'Do you think I don't know that?' I challenged. 'I've been around probably longer than your ancestors. I have dealt with kings and queens more times than you have drank blood. I would not risk facing the True Death if I have lived for so long.'

'Not even to be reunited with your dear maker?' Bill stopped me.

My fangs dropped and my defence was on the rise when a guard came through the door, gun in hand. I begrudgingly retracted my fangs as Bill looked to his guard who informed him that the four remaining Sheriffs of Louisiana had arrived. Bill straightened up his suit and looked at me one final time.

'You and your niece will join us for our meeting to decide what is to be done with the witch. Your input may be needed in this particular matter.'

He held the door open with one hand and his eyes bored into me. I had to obey. I could not risk arousing more suspicion in him. I followed him into the room, joining my niece and the four Sheriffs, my heart cold and my insides fluttering like bats. He could not find out about Eric. His concentration had to be focused on Marnie and her powers, not my endangered, amnesiac Viking of a brother.

* * *

><p>We brought Cassius home that very same night. When tears were no longer of consequence, I wanted to take him home myself, carrying him to my father, back to the place where we had grown up together. I was weakened by the loss of my twin and I could barely stand let alone carry my brother's corpse. Guards who had heard the commotion came across the scene within an hour of his death. They found a dead boy, cradled in his sobbing sister's arms, flanked by a distraught slave, with a nobleman's disgraced son muttering to himself prayers for forgiveness that would never be met. Two guards went towards Cassius' body, but I hissed and screeched like a lioness, keeping tight hold of my brother as though if I let him go for one moment, I would lose him forever. With some soothing words from Godric, I finally allowed two of the guards to place my brother on a makeshift stretcher as the other two apprehended his killer, dragging him away to await his punishment. I watched him briefly, knowing that pain and torment awaited him, both internally and externally. I pitied him for a moment, but my pity turned to anger as I turned back to my brother's body, soaked in blood and completely still.<p>

The guards carrying my brother, led by Godric, brought him home slowly and in respectful silence. The servant who answered the door of our villa screamed at the sight of Master Cassius' body and yelled for help. The doors were thrust open and the guards took his body towards the atrium, settling him there and each whispering a prayer for this young boy, murdered in the prime of life. My own servants rushed towards me, panicked by the sight of blood staining my skin and my robes, fussing over me, checking me to see if I had been injured by the blade that had taken Cassius' life. I threw them off me and rushed to join my brother once more. I thanked the guards for their assistance and they offered me their condolences. I took their words and, after they had left, I knelt next to my brother, resuming my place at his side.

I had never seen him so beautiful as on that night, bathed in the silvery light of the moon, illuminated by the glow of the stars and a few candles lit here and there. His skin was glowing, even in the hue of death, and he seemed to have one last smile etched on his face. I stroked his cheeks and placed a lasting kiss on his forehead.

'Goodbye, my brother,' I whispered as I bent my head towards his.

A flurry and a raised voice told me that my father had been informed of the tragedy. He pushed past the servants, shouting at them not to bar him from his son a moment longer; however, he was still upon the sight of Cassius' body. I did not stand as I would have done in ordinary circumstances to show respect to my lord and father. I waited to see his reaction. I waited for him to join me in mourning for the fallen boy. Father was silent for a moment before his muscles made his still frame move and he clutched at his chest as though his heart was actually breaking. He then threw himself on the ground next to me, tears streaming down his face, his grieving howls filling the room; he rested his hands on his son's chest as though willing his heart to restart, crying out his name again and again. I had never seen my father cry before; my nurse who had delivered me had once told me that the only tears he had ever shed were when he lost his wife, my mother. Now, the tears had returned.

I stood in order to give my father some room to grieve his dead boy when my head was overcome and my legs buckled under me. I fell to the ground and a pair of strong arms were there to catch me, lifting me into them without a moment's hesitation. With an explanation to the servants that he would put me to bed as my grief was taking its toll, Godric carried me to my room where he laid me in my bed, stroking away a strand of hair that threatened my eyes and kissing my forehead softly.

'Sleep now, my love,' he murmured. 'Rest.'

When he moved to position himself better beside me, I mistook this for him leaving and gripped his arms; he shook his head and sighed heavily, his voice laden with sorrow.

'I am not going anywhere. I will never leave you when you need me.'

I nodded and forced my eyes shut, willing sleep to take over me and rid me of this day. Part of me wanted to believe that this had all been a bad dream, a nightmare, and that when I awoke, my brother would be alive and well, grinning and laughing as usual. I knew that this was not a dream and that my brother was gone. I would never see him again. I would never hold him again.

I murmured a prayer to the gods to care for my brother in the afterlife and a plea to the spirit of my mother who I knew was watching over me to welcome Cassius, her son, into her arms. Then, there was darkness as I drifted to sleep, Godric's fingers caressing my face to will me to sleep and my tears, both fresh and dried, fusing my eyes shut.


	30. Chapter 30

As the Louisiana sheriffs – Duprez, Kirsch, Blackburn and Luis – all filed into the room, their first movement was obviously to bow low for their King, but it seemed that some respect had been reserved for me as they dipped their heads in my direction. I returned their gestures and noted their familiar faces – one cannot live for as long as I have without crossing paths with a good number of immortals.

'Aurora Soranus,' said Blackburn who strolled arrogantly towards me and reached for my hand, bringing it to his lips, grinning as he did so. I did my best to repress my intense dislike of this vampire in particular. 'How long has it been? Thirty, forty years?'

'Not long enough, Blackburn,' I said.

'Still pining over the Gaul slave?'

'Still wondering why I rejected your advances time and time again over the centuries?'

Pam chuckled next to me as a stung Blackburn huffed, his eyes darkening, and took a seat on one of the couches. I turned to face her and grinned as she looked from me to him with a longing questioning in her eyes.

'You and him?' she said, raising an eyebrow.

'Just him,' I assured her. 'He deluded himself into thinking he could flirt and have his way with me. He soon discovered I was much more than he could handle.'

'I bet you were,' she commented.

Silence fell as Bill entered the room after everyone had taken their places – the sheriffs were seated whilst Pam and I stood in the doorway, not wanting to infiltrate on what should have been a closed meeting between the King and the officials of his state. I thought of the many times that both Godric and myself had been asked to be a sheriff or even a monarch for a state. Later in his life, Godric had settled down to become a sheriff in Dallas, but I was a free spirit with no wish to be tied down by politics and laws.

'You are the four remaining Louisiana sheriffs,' Bill said in an authoritative voice, 'and as such, this matter concerns you. One of your own, Sheriff Eric Northman, was sent to break up a group of Wiccan practitioners and has not been seen since.'

With only the tiniest of movements, unnoticeable to the untrained eye, both human or immortal, I stiffened upon the mention of Eric's 'unknown' whereabouts and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glimmer in Pam's eyes betray her only for a second as she too thought of her beloved maker.

'Ooh, witches,' Duprez mocked. 'Yikes.'

Suddenly, Bill rushed forward and held him by the neck, speaking now in a tone that would be considered frightening to even the bravest of humans. 'You think witches are to be laughed at?'

As Duprez fought for breath, the sheriffs exchanged unnerved glances before Bill released his throat and, ever the faux King, fixed his jacket.

'Luis, enlighten our friend,' he said, looking at the bald Spanish sheriff whom I had met only once or twice over the centuries.

'It was 1610, Legroño, Spain,' he began as if starting a story that would serve to entertain as well as educate. As soon as I heard the name of the town, I remembered the story; Godric had told me about it during one of our meetings, having feared greatly for my safety as I had been near Spain at that time, but to his relief, I was far enough away to not have been affected by the devastating curse that the witch had cast.

'A sorceress named Antonia was being burned at the stake when she used necromancy ... to pull all vampires within twenty miles from their sleep into the daylight. Priests, nuns ... and my maker.' By this time, Luis had wandered close to Duprez who was now deathly still, engrossed in the story as we all were. After a dramatic pause following the announcement of the demise of his maker – a vampire I recalled to be named Don Santiago – Luis continued, turning away from Duprez. 'I was in Grenada, or I, too, would have burned.'

'Vampire priests?' questioned Duprez unbelievingly.

'Do you know nothing of our history?' Pam added, taking the words right out of my mouth.

'Vampires have often found it advantageous to maintain a hidden presence in humanity's most powerful institutions,' Bill explained. 'And in the sixteen hundreds, that was the Catholic Church. And today, as you all know, it's Google and Fox News.'

'So they outed us four hundred years ago?' Blackburn asked. 'Before the Great Revelation?'

'Imbecile,' I whispered under my breath, loud enough for his hearing to pick up and for him to scowl at me.

'No,' Luis said. 'I spent weeks tracking every witness down. I glamoured some. The rest I killed.' He turned then to Bill and stared at him imploringly. 'Majesty, let me kill the witch.'

'I'll help,' Pam offered.

'Pamela, remember what happened last time,' I warned my wayward niece.

'Oh, sweetie,' Kirsch said, grimacing at Pam. 'I think your ear ... '

Pam reached up and took a large quantity of skin away from her ear; in fact, I was relatively sure that the skin was in fact her ear. She made a little sound as she stared down at yet another rotting piece of her own flesh.

'Shit!'

Bill was the next to speak. 'The AVL has issued a mandate. No human casualties.'

'We are at war,' Luis said, the memories lurking behind his eyes and coating his words.

'You wanna fuck the Authority? You kill her, you can kiss Eric Northman goodbye, and Pam, for that matter.'

'The King is right,' I said, speaking up. 'Without the witch, we will never restore Pam to her original self and she will rot away as you can see before your very eyes.'

Blackburn stood then, looking at his fellow sheriffs with the same countenance and arrogance as I had seen when I first had the misfortune to come across him many years ago. 'If she can make us walk into the light, let's chop her fuckin' head off.'

'If you wish for the true death,' Bill informed him.

Pam had had enough and was not afraid to speak out to show this. 'God damn it. If anyone deserves the true death, it's that witch. Let's at least torture her. Look what she did to me. I'm rotting. She erased Eric's memory, turned him into a walking shell.'

I froze as Bill moved towards Pam, a terrifying look in his eyes. No. _No_. What had she done? How could she have been so foolish?

'How do you know she erased Eric's memory?' Bill demanded, grabbing hold of Pam.

'No, I, I only meant ... '

'You said he was a shell.'

'Your Majesty,' I pleaded, but my pleas went ignored as Bill turned on both my niece and I, looking to us both furiously.

'You've seen him. Where is he?'

'I don't know!' Pam stammered.

Bill's fangs dropped as he pushed Pam into the door, holding her there. I could do nothing but watch the scene unfold in front of my eyes; I had the power to intervene, but I feared the dangerous repercussions for both Pam and Eric.

'Do not lie to me! I am your King! Where is he?'

'He's at Sookie's,' Pam confessed in an almost broken voice.

Bill stopped and let go of Pam, his fangs retracting, his face showing what I could only see as betrayal as he repeated the name of the woman who had been hiding the amnesiac Eric. 'Sookie's?'

'Bill, Bill, please,' Pam begged, but it was too late.

Bill disappeared then out of the door and left us there, still and unmoving. I stared at Pam with sadness and disappointment. She could not bring herself to meet my gaze, ashamed of what she had done and terrified about what could happen to Eric.

'Pam,' I whispered. 'What have you done?'

'I'm sorry, Eric,' she murmured to herself as though her endangered maker could hear her hushed words.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

For three days, I did not leave my brother's side. He lay there, still and cold to the touch, but to me, he looked as though he was in an eternal sleep and despite my own knowledge that my brother was gone, I still clung to the hope that those eyes would open, that heart would beat and he would return to me. I still had not come to accept the fact that those eyes with the lids now a light purple in the hue of death would never open to reveal the ice blue that marked the contrast between us as twins, his heart would be motionless and I had lost him forever. I sat there, day and night, the ever-watching guardian angel. The servants, after discovering that I was immovable through both the use of coercion and force, brought me food and drink, but I barely touched it. No words or action from anyone – my father, my family, not even my beloved Godric – could wrench me away for even a moment from Cassius. I had to be there for him. I had to watch over my brother in death as I had done in life.

'Aurora.'

Godric's voice brought me from my staring at my brother's body for only a moment although I did not look up from Cassius as though if I took my gaze away from him, he would arise without my noticing. I felt his hand lightly graze my shoulder, but I did not react at his touch; it did not course through my body like electricity in its usual manner. I was numb from the inside out. I had shed my tears of grief for Cassius for the world to see, but to my very core, I was hollow.

'What is it, Godric?' I now used a broken voice, hoarse from countless tears.

'Aurora, they want to start preparing for ... '

'His funeral?' I said in a sharp voice I had never before used with Godric.

'Yes,' he murmured softly. 'My love, you need to – '

'Do not tell me what I _need _to do, Godric,' I hissed at him. 'What I need to do is stay by my brother's side.'

'For how long, Aurora? How long will you stay by the side of a boy who is never going to wake up?'

I looked up at him swiftly and saw the desperation on his face, a desperation that melted some of my broken heart. I tried to find an answer to his question but found myself flailing, trying to find the right words to stop my beloved's sadness.

'Aurora,' he said in a cracked, broken voice. 'You have to let him go.'

'I can't ... Godric, he's my brother ... '

'I know, my beloved, you're still grieving. There is an ache in your heart that cannot be healed and you are left constantly wondering how you will survive each day with this pain.' I looked away from him, the anguish he described throbbing inside my heart, but he continued, his voice calm yet evidently pained. 'Aurora, I know how painful this is. Believe me, I know what you're going through. Dearest love, this is not good for you.'

'No, Godric,' I said, something in me snapping, as I got to my feet to face Godric. 'Please do not tell me that this is not good for me. I _need _to be with my brother.'

'Is this what he would have wanted?'

'Godric ... '

'Answer me that. In his dying words, he told you to _live_, Aurora. This is not living. This is barely even surviving.'

'I am in _agony_!' I cried out. 'Godric, how can I live without him for the rest of my life when these past three days have been torture? How am I meant to do as he asked when both my heart and my soul are broken beyond repair? I cannot sleep because I keep reliving the moment I lost him. Food and drink makes me sick to my very core. I cannot go on like this ... I can't do it ... I have to stay with him. I can't leave him ... I can't ... '

It was then that my heart shattered and I could not find the strength. I had cried all of my tears so instead my body compensated with wracking sobs that tore from my chest. Godric held me in his arms as I screamed and heaved sighs of mourning.

'Aurora, please,' he moaned. 'Stop this ... '

'Why should I? I need to grieve for my brother! Why should I stop?'

'Because it is breaking my heart.'

At these words, my body relaxed and my cries diminished into silence. I looked at Godric's pained eyes and held him comfortingly. I was not the only one who was grieving. Godric had lost his whole family and now his best friend. He was terrified of losing me too.

I rose then from the ground and turned to my brother for the very last time, touching the bracelet on my wrist, his bracelet. I reached forward and pressed my lips on his forehead.

'Goodbye, Cassius. I will see you again. Wait for me.'

Godric nodded at me as I turned to face him, walking out of that room and away from my brother's body. I had done my grieving for my brother. There would always be a hole in my heart where he had once resided, but I had to do what he had asked of me with his last breath. I had to live.

* * *

><p>Barely seconds after Bill had rushed out of his mansion, guns were pointed and aimed at Pam and I. I could have easily taken out Bill's inept guards and their little toys in seconds, but I thought it unwise in the current situation. I looked back at my inconsolable niece who was still frozen to the spot, rendered almost catatonic after she had revealed the whereabouts of our beloved Eric to the one vampire who had the power to have him killed in his altered and extremely vulnerable state. I could only pray that Sookie, who I could see possessed a fire and a passion that I had not seen in many humans in my time both as a human and a vampire, would do something to prevent Bill from taking him to be sent to the True Death.<p>

'Been naughty, Aurora?' Blackburn sniggered.

I snapped my head to face him and shot him a glare that many had only seen in the few seconds before they lost a limb.

'The two of you,' one of the guards barked at us as two of his cronies opened up the basement door which I could see out of the corner of my eye led to some sort of metal prison constructed underneath this grand old house, making its ancient grandeur a complete facade, a mask. 'Downstairs now.'

'I wish to remain here and speak to the King when he returns,' I retorted. 'I want – '

'Do as I say or it's a silver bullet in each of your knees,' he interrupted.

I glanced back at the four sheriffs who all watched the scene with faces that displayed both shock and avid interest. They did nothing, not one of them. I cast my eyes away as I was frogmarched with Pam down the steps into the basement. I had been in many prisons over the centuries, sometimes as the individual they held. This was a prison of grey and white, built to contain vampires through the use of silver bars on the doors with one long singular cell with silver bars and a bed, darkening the white surroundings with various shades of grey. My thoughts turned to the witch, Marnie, now in the King's custody. How far away was she, this dangerous witch who had caused all of this trouble, all of this chaos?

Once the cell doors had been bolted shut and the guards resumed their posts either upstairs in the mansion or down here guarding us, I turned to Pam who looked distraught at her previous actions. Her eyes were wide and brimming with blood tears, one rolling down her cheek of ruined flesh. I did not know the right words to say to Pam.

'Aurora, look at me,' she pleaded. Pam had never pleaded. Surely she knew the consequences of her runaway tongue. 'Please.'

'Pam,' I said in my calmest voice, my tone light as I looked upon my distressed niece. 'We were meant to be keeping Eric safe, not handing him over to the one vampire who could have him killed.'

'I _know_,' she moaned as though it was causing her physical pain. 'I know, I shouldn't have said a word. But I couldn't help it. I was so angry – '

'Then you had better learn to control your anger before anything else happens,' I almost snapped at her.

'So you've never been angry before, Little Miss Perfect?' she retorted with the Pam fire I knew so well. 'This annoying calm you have, it surely hasn't been there for two thousand years?'

I chose my next words carefully and stared at my niece meaningfully. 'I have a temper when the situation calls for it and yes, there have been times when I lost control and my anger and rage turned me into a monster.'

Pam snorted. 'We're all monsters. Some are just much better at hiding it.'

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

Grief and a deathly silence hung about the house for a long time after Cassius died. His body had been moved and buried, but it was as if the deathly atmosphere it had brought remained, soaking up every corner of the villa. My father either shut himself away in his quarters or made lengthy trips away, leaving me alone in the house with the servants who had found that I was not the best of company to keep and busied themselves with their daily chores. Godric was the only one who was capable of reaching me in my still and silent state; his were the only words that could bring me back from the precipice. It was for both him and my own sanity that I had to be strong.

Life went by as normal outside of the Soranus villa. I visited my sister almost every day who grieved but was not as affected by Cassius' death as I was. I spent as much time as I could with my godson, playing with him and doting on the little boy. As soon as I felt that I had outstayed my welcome, I left their home but I could not bear to go back to my own, a place of silence and death where there had once been laughter and life. I found myself wandering through Rome and I usually ended up in the meadow, my special place to be with my beloved Godric who would often join me when he instinctively knew that I was there. One night, two months after the death of my twin brother, we lay there, my head resting on Godric's chest listening to the steady beat of the heart I cherished, gazing up at the stars. Silence was not as bad when I was with Godric; it was comfortable and safe, and words were not needed when we simply had each other. However, words leapt from my brain to my tongue, words that I needed to shared with my love.

'Godric, I cannot bear to remain here.'

Godric stiffened as I sat up then to gaze into his eyes, where he looked at me meaningfully, contemplating my words.

'What do you mean, my beloved?' he murmured.

'I cannot stay here, in Rome. This feeling of death hangs over me like a dark cloud and no amount of praying will vanquish it. The gods forsook me when they took my precious brother away from me. I have to leave this place.'

'But your family are here. Your father, your sister, your nephew ... '

'And it would pain me to leave them, but ... I cannot bear another moment here.'

I stopped and turned away from him, but I found my face turned back to his as he gently placed two cupped fingers under my chin and his lips found mine. The kiss was soft and comforting, reminding me that I would never have need of anything else as long as I had my Godric.

'Then, I will go with you,' he whispered determinedly.

'You will?'

'Aurora, I have known for a long time that wherever you go is where I want to be. I want to walk this earth with you by my side. I will never need or ask anything else, only to know that I have your love.'

'You have it eternally,' I promised and kissed him again, this time with a little more passion to prove my words to be true.

After the kiss ended, Godric stood and helped me to my feet, his serious demeanour now ruined by a smile of excitement as his eyes sparkled with the dream of a life with me away from the confines of Rome now so close to a reality.

'We could go anywhere, be anyone. We could take any direction, any road. It would not matter if we were poor vagabonds, because if I have you, I am as rich as a king.'

'When shall we go?' I beamed. 'I would need time to collect some things together.'

'Two nights from now,' he said, holding my face gently in his hands. 'Two nights from now, we meet here and – '

'Slip away in the dead of night?'

He nodded and kissed me quickly as he could not wait to continue. 'Yes, my love. We can be free at last.'

'Together for always.'


	31. Chapter 31

Hey, guys! Sorry that this instalment has taken so long to upload - lots and lots of stuff going on here! I will try and make each chapter more regular, maybe once a fortnight or something. Remember, read and review! Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed the story so far!

* * *

><p>Pam and I remained in that prison for what seemed like hours; it may have only been a short amount of time in reality, but the tension in the air was so thick that even time seemed to bend to its will and slow down, even stop altogether. The only sounds were Pam's soft sobs and the occasional clatter of footsteps from a change in the guards posted outside our cell. I myself could barely string a sentence together in this unbearable hostile tension, but even then, I had nothing left to say to my niece other than chastisement and lamentations that we should have both done more to protect our beloved Eric. Although, I thought to myself, if Pamela had just kept her mouth shut, we would not be in this mess and Eric would not be on his way to the True Death. He had not met it, I was sure of that. Pam would have felt such a great pain, such unbearable anguish as she felt her maker dying. I understood that pain, that anguish well. I had felt its cold grip around my heart, tearing at my insides, every sinew of my body throbbing as I felt my Godric meet the burning rays of the morning sun. The bond between a maker and his child was indescribably strong, and a bond that strong was sure to have painful repercussions should it be broken.<p>

'Oh _no_.'

I turned at Pam's groan to see her face now, rotting ever still. Her bloodstained face, due to endless tears over her runaway tongue, looked more like a corpse than ever; death was taking out its vengeance that Pam had transcended it to become a vampire. There was no trace left of the beauty in which Pam took great pride. I hardly recognised her, especially when she pulled off pieces of her own flesh as easily as a child picks the wings off a dragonfly.

'Pamela, must you do that?' I said, not even pretending to conceal my disgust.

My distraught niece shot me a look that clearly stated that she must. 'Listen here, Princess. Bill's gone after Eric, he could be on the receiving end of a wooden stake before the end of the night, and now my freaking face is falling apart.'

'I can see that,' I commented softly. 'But the more you pick, the more painful it will be.'

I neglected to tell her this, but I could actually start to see some of her veins in the places where her skin had completely peeled off to reveal the mechanics underneath. Pam was getting worse. Soon enough, the years of immortality and beauty would be long gone and to what state would Pam be reduced? We needed to get the witch to reverse the spell on both her and Eric. But how could she when she claimed that she did not know how?

'We have to get out of here,' I murmured, more to myself than my niece.

'Well done, dearest aunt,' Pam sneered. 'Just say what we're both thinking.'

I snarled, 'Hush, Pam.'

'No, I won't. I'm gonna complain until kingdom come or until the godforsaken minute they let – '

'Hush, Pam,' I said with more ferocity as I leaned closer to the bars, my sensitive hearing picking up sounds from upstairs, from the house beyond the silver basement cells. I could hear the doors of the original antebellum house creak open and heavy footfalls followed, indicating guards. However, lighter ones trailed behind, soft and harder to pick up. I strained closer, careful not to touch the silver encased bars lest my face become more like Pam's. Soon, voices erupted and I listened even more closely, picking up the presence of both Sookie and Bill. But where was Eric? Was he choosing to remain silent as Bill and Sookie tossed insults back and forth? Or had he met the True Death only minutes before?

'You have no right to do this,' Sookie snapped, presumably continuing the conversation that had begun when Bill had entered her home to apprehend my brother.

'I have every right,' Bill answered in his best commanding voice. 'I am his King.'

'You aren't mine,' Sookie retorted and I could not help but grin, only imagining the look on Bill's face.

'Yes, you made that abundantly clear, when you lied to my face.'

'You've got a hell of a nerve lecturing me on lying.'

There was a moment's silence as I picked up Bill's indrawn breath, I assume to launch a tirade against Sookie. However, he was interrupted by the voice I'd been longing to hear. It was Eric.

'Thank the gods,' I spoke aloud, releasing my own breath that had been kept whilst I waited for the smallest sign that my brother was still with us and had not been executed.

'What are you talking about?' Pam said, having had more things to worry about such as her disintegrating face.

I turned to her and sighed in relief, forgetting all she had done in putting Eric in danger. 'Eric. He's alive.'

Pam stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes momentarily as a sign of sheer reprieve. I shot her a small but encouraging smile and turned back to listen closely to the conversation happening just above my head.

'Your Majesty,' Eric said in a voice that was soaked in an innocence I had no idea he was capable of having buried deep somewhere within him. 'Whatever I'm guilty of, Sookie had nothing to do with it. She was only protecting me.'

'How touching,' Bill scorned. 'Silver him.'

I let my fangs drop in fury as I heard the silver being placed on Eric's vulnerable flesh, the sizzling of his skin as it reacted with the metal toxic to our kind. I heard his pained hiss as he was subjected to the silver, but it seemed that Sookie was feeling exactly my sentiment and expressed it vocally, my admiration for this girl only growing.

'He's not resisting! You don't have to hurt him! Where are you taking him?'

There were bleeps then and the sounds became even clearer as the door to the basement opened, revealing the facade once again. Pam looked up now, not having to concentrate to hear what was going on as it became clear to us both – Eric was being brought down here to us. He wasn't going to be hurt.

'Sookie, stop,' my brother pleaded. 'You don't have to do this. You've done too much for me already.'

'Yes, you certainly have,' Bill interceded.

The tone in Sookie's voice went a few degrees colder as she addressed Bill once more. 'That's what this is about? You've been running around, sticking your fangs into who knows what else and into every girl in town, but the second I move on, you arrest him?'

'Believe it or not, my entire existence does not revolve around what or who is between your legs.'

My frustration at the insolent King of Louisiana was dimmed by the arrival of my brother who was shown into the same cell that enclosed Pam and myself. Dressed in a blue hoodie and what I can only describe as sports shorts that were a size too small for him, my brother looked around and noticed me first. I ran towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck; his response was not like the first time I had seen him just after he had lost his memory as his arms enveloped my body and brought me closer to him.

'Sister,' he murmured, holding me tighter than ever.

'I thought you were dead,' I said as we mutually released each other. 'I thought Bill had staked you.'

'I – ' Whatever Eric was about to say was cut off as he sniffed the air within the cell and his facial expression changed completely, souring and wrinkling his nose. 'It smells like death in here.'

He turned to see Pam, who had thrown a black piece of material over her face, hiding her cursed looks from the view of her maker.

'That's me,' she said in a tearful voice; it was then that I realised the true impact this curse had had on my niece. She could not even bear for her maker to lay his eyes on her, the vampire who had bestowed upon her the power of immortality. Was it something to do with the beauty of immortality that was now wasting away?

'Pam?' he asked in a calm voice, quizzical at the material covering his progeny.

'Bill found you because of me,' she confessed. 'I fucked up royally. I'm sorry.'

'Pam, what's done is done,' I said. 'Eric is here. He's alive.'

Eric edged forward gingerly like a child approaching a wounded animal. 'Why are you hiding under that?'

'Because I don't want you to see me like this.'

'Take it off.'

Pam groaned, 'No.'

'Sookie told me I was your maker,' he said in a voice that reminded me of my Eric. 'I command you.'

Slowly and with great reluctance, Pam removed the blanket and showcased her face to her maker, what was left of it at this point. Having become accustomed to Pam's new look, I was a little desensitized now, but this was the first time that Eric had seen her like this. He did nothing but stand there, looking at her with such sympathy, such pity that it reminded me so much of our maker. Eric had never been capable of these emotions before, not from what I had seen in the short time that I had known him nor according to any of the accounts of my brother's demeanour. I liked this side of my brother, the side hidden from the world, just as much as I liked his normal self.

'Oh,' was all the words he could form.

'The witch, Lafayette, his boyfriend and skank of a cousin,' Pam listed off names in a bitter tone. 'They did this to me.'

'I was there, Pam,' I murmured. 'It was mostly the work of the witch. She is powerful, I will give her that.'

'Who's Lafayette?' Eric asked innocently.

Pam sighed and shuffled around. 'Forget it. I can feel myself rotting. I don't know how much time I have left.'

It finally occurred to me that I could lose my niece. It struck me and I looked at Pam with new eyes. Her face had been ruined beyond all manner of comprehensible repair, but I had not even considered that her whole body would be rotting away. How long did she have left before she was reduced to bones, the years finally catching up to her? Magic was one of the most unpredictable forces I had ever come across in my very long life. Would Eric and I lose Pam if the curse was not removed?

Eric sat down on the bed, staring at Pam, transfixed by her. 'I'm sorry. Are you afraid?'

'Fuck you!' she exclaimed. 'Pieces are falling off of me, I'm pissed!'

'Pam,' I chided. 'This is not Eric's fault so cussing at him will not help matters.'

'I can't die like this. We need to get out of here and get the bitches that did this to us.'

'No, no,' Eric refused. 'King Bill believes we are a danger to our kind.'

'What danger can you be?' I said furiously. 'You have no memories of even being a vampire.'

'Let me tell you a little something about King Bill,' Pam said in her usual drawl. 'He's a self-loathing, power-hungry, pompous little dork and _you_ hate his guts.'

Eric said in a shocked voice, 'That is treason.'

'She does have a point, brother.'

Pam rushed to her side, her scarred face inches away from Eric's pristine, pale one. 'Eric, snap the fuck outta it. You have no loyalty to Bill Compton. You are a Viking vampire god and you bow to no-one. If someone crosses you, you rip out their liver with one fang.'

Pam's words were simply poetry to others of our kind, much more mercenary and bloodthirsty than I.

'No,' Eric let out quickly, getting one word in edgeways before Pam resumed.

'I have been with you over a hundred years. We've travelled the world together, killing and fucking and laughing.'

Eric stood suddenly. 'I don't remember this.'

I noted something in my brother's eyes. It was not simply the pain of a memory someone had forced onto him of the person he was supposed to be, but it was something different, a look I had never seen Eric carry. It was disgust. Eric was ashamed, of himself.

'Oh fucking hell,' Pam cursed, standing like her maker, as Eric turned her back to her and walked away from the both of us to the other end of the cell, unable to bear her words. 'You will. We'll get your life back, I swear.'

Eric snapped, 'I don't want it! The things I've done ... I don't want to remember.'

'Eric,' I murmured in a hushed tone, sensing a connection between us that I feared never existed. He was compassionate and remorseful. In those few seconds, I had never felt closer to my rediscovered brother.

Pam walked over to her maker to be near him once more. 'You don't know what you're saying.'

'I'm not the vampire you think I am,' he said firmly. 'Not anymore.'

He walked away from her then and I watched Pam's eyes fill with fresh tears. I had gained the knowledge that my brother was more like me than I had first thought, but I was now confronted with the fact that Pam had lost her maker, her flesh and blood, the vampire who had passed down her bloodthirsty ways. She was lost.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

My excitement could not fully be contained as I made preparations that day, readying myself for tonight. I was ready to leave Rome, the life I had come to resent behind. Nothing lay here that could keep me here now. My brother was dead and my sister had a life and family of her own. My father had only cared about his heir and his treasured son, not the twin girl that caused the death of his beloved wife. I was ready to leave it all behind, to run away with Godric and start our new lives together. Who knew what the future held for the two of us? There would be no longer social boundaries between us when we found a place of our own. He would no longer be a slave and I would not be forbidden to even hold his hand. We would be free, a sensation that neither of us had ever felt.

I had two visits on my mind the morning of the last day I would spend in Rome. Firstly, I went to see Lucretia and my godson. I held my sister for as long as I could when she greeted me and I picked up Fabricius, spinning him until he giggled and squealed.

'You are in good spirits today, sister,' Lucretia noted as she smiled at the sight of Fabricius nestled into my shoulder, one finger twirling around my hair.

'I am indeed,' I said, beaming. 'The gods have smiled down upon me, dearest Lucretia.'

'Oh, really? And why is that? What have you been praying for then, Aurora?'

I held onto Fabricius a little tighter and whispered, 'Freedom.'

I allowed my nephew to wander off and play whilst I spent time with his mother. She found her place on a stool and I knelt in front of her, allowing her to braid my hair as she had done when we were much younger, before the worries of the world had found their place in our hearts and minds. As we spoke, she wove my hair in intricate knots and plaits, her fingers light but firm as they styled my locks.

'He is growing up fast,' I murmured softly, watching Fabricius present a flower to me – a rose. I gave it to Lucretia who found a way to weave it into her design for my hair.

'Yes, he is,' she mused. 'Soon enough, he shall be at school. And then in the army, like his father and grandfather.'

'A life planned in detail for him.'

'As ours was, dear sister.'

I nuzzled into my nephew's hair one last time before handing him back to his mother. Before I left my sister for the last time, I put my arms around her and breathed in her scent, her presence. I could tell that she had noticed something different in me as she stiffened in my arms and held me at arms length as though to scrutinise me, one eyebrow raised, her mouth cracking into a slight smile filled with curiosity.

'Is something the matter, sister?' she asked softly and calmly.

I shook my head, a little too vigorously for her to take my following answer seriously. 'No, why do you ask?'

'Something ... Something is different about you. I cannot quite put it into words. You seem ... glowing.'

I beamed again at Lucretia and bid her farewell for the very last time. I knew that I would miss her more than words could possibly describe, but this was her home, not mine. She belonged here with her husband, her son and the many children I knew were to come. She would grow old here and die an old lady, surrounded by grandchildren and beloved friends and family. As perfect as that life sounded, it was not the one I wanted for myself. I wanted adventure and freedom, with the man I adored more than life itself. I wanted each day to be more wonderful and exploratory than the last. I wanted memories that I would cherish in my final moments when I would finally meet the gods.

I arrived back home and set to packing. I had a little bag ready and stuffed it with a few clothes, money and precious keepsakes that I could not bear to leave in Rome. When I was finished and ready, my fingertips lightly brushed Cassius' bracelet and I thought of my brother and what he would say if he knew what I was about to do. I could imagine him sitting on the end of my bed, grinning, his eyes full of life and light. I could even hear his voice in my ears as he spoke to me, barely containing a laugh.

'_Just think, sister of mine. The adventures you'll have ... Godric will take good care of you, I can tell. If he does, I shall be having serious words with him. Maybe I could haunt him. That would scare him out of his wits.'_

I chuckled as the vision of my brother vanished and turned back to my bag when one of the house servants entered my room, her head bowed as though not to make direct eye contact with me.

'Apologies for disturbing you, Miss Aurora.'

'No need for it,' I said, waving his sorry away with a flick of my hand. 'What is it?'

'Your father wishes to speak with you.'

I nodded and made my way to my father's quarters where he awaited me with the smile he reserved for me alone, a smile that was not a beam for his first born nor a grin for his only son. There was another man in the room, a young man of about twenty or so years. His hair was a dark blond and slightly curled, showing that he was barely past adolescence despite his height and build, and his eyes were the colour of a cloudless sky. He was dressed in a military uniform and his stance reflected years of training. As I entered, his eyes flickered to me and his stance became fractionally relaxed, his gaze soft and unyielding.

'You wished to see me, Father?' I asked wearily.

'Ah, yes, dearest Aurora,' he said and gestured to the stranger in the room. 'This is Marcus Antonius. He has been most anxious to meet you.'

Marcus Antonius came forward to stand before me and took my hand, pressing his lips to it gently. 'Miss Aurora, it is a great pleasure to meet you at last.'

My brain picked up on the last two words, but my mouth told me to remain polite to this man and obedient to my father.

'The pleasure is all mine, sir,' I said in a voice that was well rehearsed.

'Good, you two seem quite the pair. What do you think of her, Marcus?'

'As beautiful as you said and yet even more so,' he answered softly without taking his eyes off me. 'Your father told me that you lost your twin brother only a short time ago. I am deeply sorry for your loss.'

The way he looked at me was in a way that was actually sympathetic to my grief. The only ones to truly want to sympathise with me for Cassius' death had been my sister and Godric. The sympathy from everyone else had been false and only there to prove their association to his death. I could tell instantly that his army uniform and military background hid a deeper man whose eyes spoke the depths of his soul.

My father had clearly missed this moment and had hurried on with his own topic of discussion, looking at me sternly. 'My daughter, what do you think of him?'

My eyebrows furrowed as I answered my father quietly, wary of his response. 'What should my opinion of him matter, Father?'

Marcus Antonius looked at me with slight alarm. 'Have you not been made aware of the plans being made, Miss Aurora?'

I looked warily from this man to my father, feeling the tension in the air as thick as fog. 'What plans?'

My father heaved a sigh as his eyes bore into mine. 'I wanted to tell you this morning before Marcus arrived from the garrison, but there was so much to be done and you were busy with your sister ... '

'Tell me what, Father?' I whispered, almost silently.

My father's eyes were cold as they spoke the words that stopped my heart.

'Marcus has asked for your hand in marriage ... and I have consented to the union. You are to be married two weeks from today.'


	32. Chapter 32

Rome

'_You are to be married two weeks from today.'_

The words rang terribly clear in my head and I had to steady myself to stop feeling faint. My father's proclamation was a throbbing echo in my brain which I assessed with every ounce of my knowledge. However, there was no misinterpretation, no cause for believing that what he was saying was not what he meant. I was to be married. That was as final as a death sentence. In fact, it practically was.

I had to clear my throat in order for any semblance of speech to emerge. 'M-married, Father?'

My prospective groom's eyes sparkled as he looked at me earnestly, not even listening to my father's words as he answered his near-catatonic daughter. I too paid my father no attention as my gaze was fixed on Marcus Antonius. He looked so ... 'Overjoyed' did not quite meet the expectation to describe his facial expression as he looked upon me. He wanted this marriage not for monetary means, not for financial gain. He wanted _me_. He wanted me for his wife, not his property. A small glimmer of positivity shone through this unexpected marriage proposal ... No. No, I had to tell myself. Godric was the one I truly loved. No matter how pleasant Marcus Antonius was, it would not make up for the fact that he was not _my _Godric, not in a thousand years.

'Yes, my dear. Two weeks from today, a glorious festivity shall descend upon our great house. The last of my children to be married to a soldier in such high regard.'

'Father – '

'I have given him my strongest seal of approval,' my father talked over me, clapping Marcus Antonius on his back as though he had won a chariot race rather than the hand of his youngest daughter. 'He is a fine match for my Aurora.'

Marcus Antonius made his way over to me then and took my hand, slowly and cautiously, holding it to his lips. 'I hope this proposal makes you even half as happy as me, most lovely Aurora. I wanted to get to know you a little beforehand, but your father insisted – '

'Now there will be plenty of time for introduction after the wedding,' my father boomed and Marcus Antonius looked away from me in almost embarrassment. Feelings and emotions were not the real Roman way, my lord father had always said. 'After all, you will have a whole lifetime to get to know one another. Soon you will be relaying stories to your children.'

'Children?' I all but spluttered.

'Ah, yes! I'll expect a son within the first year, my second heir, and maybe another son after that. You'll name the eldest after his father, of course, but the second one, you might consider naming him after your departed brother ... '

That stopped me dead. Not only was he planning my future with a man I barely had known for five minutes, but he was replacing Cassius with another heir. I tried my best to push any images of that future from my mind, but suddenly all I could see were my sons, playing at fighting and not knowing how their uncle, the namesake of one of them, met his untimely end at the end of a sword in a scene that was being playfully acted out by mere children ...

'No, Father.'

The words had escaped my lips before I had any chance to retrieve them back or even attempt to stop them being uttered. Marcus Antonius' eyes widened a fraction, but the reaction I was dreading was from my father. His posture had abruptly stiffened and he looked down, his eyes cast down away from me. My heart thudded in my chest, pounding ever louder and faster, as I waited for him to act in response to my refusal.

'What?' he asked through gritted teeth, now looking back up at me, a vein in his forehead throbbing as his face reddened ever so slightly.

I took a deep breath and answered him politely and warily, more than I had ever done in my entire life. 'I am sorry, my father, but I cannot accept this proposal. I cannot marry a man I do not love.'

There was a deathly silence then as both Marcus Antonius and I waited for my father to do something, anything, in response to this act of defiance. My father huffed out a sigh and turned to Marcus Antonius with an air of humiliation. Humiliation and my father did not mix well and usually it came out with results that were truly frightening. Pride was everything to my father and the fact that I had tarnished this beloved pride which he held dearer than his own family was more than he could bear.

'I am truly sorry, sir,' he said to my prospective groom, all the airs and graces of a nobleman. 'I will talk with my _ungrateful_ child about this matter. Clearly she is still in deep mourning for her brother's passing. She needs time in order to carefully consider your proposal.'

Marcus Antonius nodded softly and bade my father goodbye, leaving the room but not without a farewell for me. He kissed my hand softly and told me to consider his offer more thoroughly, a gentle plea that meant a little more to me than any words my father could hurl at me. When he left the room, I silently wished that I could join him, because now I was alone with my angered father, whose fists and jaw were clenched. I hung my head, unwilling to meet the glare of his eyes, fixed pointedly on me like a blade.

'So,' he said curtly, 'what do you have to say for yourself, girl?'

I whispered in fear, 'Father, please ... '

'All these years I have brought you to be the highest standard of lady so that one day someone such as Marcus Antonius may offer to take you off my hands and make you his wife. I have given you every opportunity in Rome, some many young girls would kill for. And now you humiliate me and refuse such a generous offer ... '

'Father, I am not your property. You cannot sell me off to the highest bidder.'

'Be silent!' my father hissed and it was as if my tongue had frozen in my mouth and the words I had collected for any retort or argument solidified completely. 'You are _my _child. You are _mine_ to give away to whomever I please. You should be fortunate enough that I should give you to one such as Marcus Antonius, a fine and upstanding soldier with a fortune that would keep you content for the rest of your days.'

He sighed and turned away from me then, his presence still threatening even though the glare of his eyes was now not on me. 'You will marry him in two weeks and that is final, Aurora. I will hear nothing more on this subject. I wish only to have your silent compliance and your word that you will go through with this marriage with enthusiasm and fervour.'

'You would force me to marry a man I do not know, yet alone love?'

I barely got out the last word of that sentence when my father's hand collided with the flesh of my cheek, the shock of which sent me crashing to the floor. I held my cheek, feeling it redden even now as my father's glare bored down on me. I had never seen him this angry, but this was not angry. This was infuriation, enragement. I could barely look at him, my eyes filling with tears as my face throbbed, the pain of the impact as fresh now as it had been when he had struck.

'Insolent girl!' he yelled at me as if the force of his hand had not been enough. 'After everything I have done for you, you dare to question me!'

'Father,' I whispered, terrified beyond reason.

'You speak one more word to me, disobedient _wretch_,' he hissed, 'and you will wish you had stayed silent. You will be married to Marcus Antonius. There is no arguing with that. I am your father and this is my will. You will _obey_.'

I could do nothing but nod to him, fearfully aware of his clenched fists that were only a swing away.

'You will be the perfect bride. You will smile and you will laugh and you will say 'I do'. That is all you are required to do. Marriage is all you have ever been required to do. Now that my son is dead, I need _you_ to produce heirs of impeccable standing and breeding. Marcus Antonius will see to that. Furthermore, I will hear nothing more of your insubordination or I will not be happy. Is that clear, Aurora?'

'Crystal clear,' I said through gritted teeth, the tears streaming now.

'Good. Your silent cooperation will be much appreciated. Now, you may leave. I have many things to do in order for this wedding to be a success. I must see your groom to tell him that after a much needed discussion with your lord and father, you have had a change of heart and accept his most kind offer.'

I stood then on shaking legs and stared at my father blankly. There was no love in his eyes, no sentiment of affection towards me. I was merely a business deal. My feelings about this meant nothing to him. From that moment on, I despised my father from my very core, something I had never done with anyone. The love and respect I had set aside in my heart for him had shrivelled and died, a black thing resting in the dark corner of my heart.

* * *

><p>We waited for what seemed like an eternity in that desolate cell, the three of us. Pam was keeping herself busy with the decomposing parts of her face, sniffing and letting out the occasional cry of despair. Eric and I sat silently together, our backs against the wall. At one point he leant on my shoulder in a terribly childlike manner and I stroked his hair softly, humming a lullaby I had been sang by my sister when I was human. The words were soft and lilting, causing Eric to sigh heavily and tell me to go on when I paused.<p>

'You're older than me,' he said suddenly when I had finished the third verse of the lullaby. 'I can feel it. The power radiating from you. That power only comes with great age. How old are you?'

'That's an impertinent question to ask a lady, Eric,' I chuckled. 'I'm two thousand years old, a millennia or so older than you.'

'But you look so young. _I _should be the older one, taking care of you, protecting you.'

'I don't need protecting, but I'd be glad to let you do it once in a while if that made you feel any better.'

'It just might,' he murmured and his eyes wandered over to Pam who was far too concerned with her own reflection – or what was left of it – to be concerned by our musings. 'I wish I could help Pam. I'm her maker. I should have protected her.'

'Eric, in your state, you wouldn't have stood a chance with the witch. I was there with Pam when that Marnie placed the curse on her. Pam was provoked which is never a good thing in any situation, especially when confronted with a powerful witch.'

'Will she reverse it? The curse?'

'On Pam?'

'Yes ... but the one on me, will she reverse that?'

I looked at him thoughtfully. 'The way you say that, _bror, _it makes it sound as if you do not want her to lift the curse on your memory.'

My brother shuffled uncomfortably and looked at me with such a deep expression. 'Maybe ... I'm not sure.'

'What makes you say that, Eric? You can tell me anything, you know that.'

He drew a long breath as though it pained him to say the words that were to follow. 'The vampire I used to be ... Is he truly the barbarian, the brutal thing that everyone believes him to be?'

I bit my lip as I struggled to find an answer to his question. 'I've only known you a short while and I don't think so. He's been nothing but kind to me.'

'So there is some hope,' he whispered.

'Eric,' I started a new explanation but I was interrupted by the sounds of keys and the heavy footfalls of the guards of the King. They entered the dungeon swiftly and opened the door to our cells, the lasers of their guns pointed at all three of us, ready to strike.

'Mr Northman, you are to come with us,' one of them demanded.

'Where are you taking him?' both Pam and I insisted.

'The King wishes to bestow upon him his punishment. He is to meet the True Death.'

I froze and my insides turned to ice. 'No,' I gasped. 'You can't do this! You can't! I want to see the King!'

'Sorry, kid, but you're to stay right down – '

My fangs dropped and my face was immediately painted with the face I had had two thousand years to perfect. 'I am no kid.'

The soldiers looked immediately spooked and became wary of me as Eric was frogmarched out of the cell despite the protestations of myself and Pam.

'I love you both,' he told us in Swedish as he ascended the staircase.

'Eric! No! Please! You can't do this! No!'

The door then shut behind the last of the guards, shutting out our poor, defenceless Eric who was now to meet his second and final death. If my heart could still beat, it would have been shattered, but I questioned it almost instantly. How much heartbreak had it endured over the last two millennia? 'Too much' was the answer. There had been too many deaths and so much loss. Now it seemed that death was not quite finished in its task of ridding me of my loved ones.

'He's not dead.'

My head rose from my hands, my hair tousled and unkempt after what felt like a lifetime of running my fingers through it in unease and fear. Pam spoke for the first time in nearly an hour, the silence falling the moment Eric had been taken from us to await the True Death. I stared at my niece whose expression I could not read due to the decomposition of all the parts of her face that could make out an emotion.

'What did you say?'

'Eric. He's not dead.'

'He's not?' I murmured, knowing that when it came to matters concerning death, it was better to have a glimmer of hope, a string that we both had been clutching at since he was taken.

'Think about it, auntie,' she said, her Southern drawl accentuating the last word. 'If he truly was ... gone, then surely I would have felt something. I mean, losing a maker is supposed to be agonising.'

I nodded grimly. 'You're right about that, Pamela.'

She looked at me warily then. 'What was it like? Losing ... Godric?'

'Did you know him?' I asked, wondering to my amusement about the meeting of the wise, calm Godric and the impulsive, sarcasm-driven Pam.

Pam tilted her head slightly. 'Only met him once or twice. In passing though. Never had a conversation lasting longer than a few minutes and about nothing except Eric. He seemed ... nice.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'The word you think of when it comes to Godric, Eric's revered maker and the vampire who made me into an immortal, is '_nice_'? Come on, Pam, I thought your vocabulary was rather more broad.'

My niece managed a soft chuckle. 'You bet you. I was the best read madame in my area of San Francisco.'

I made a mental note to ask Pam about her colourful past when the guards returned. Pam and I leapt to our feet instantly, hoping and praying that they had come with news about Eric.

'Good news, ladies,' the guard from before said as he unlocked the cell. 'You're free to go.'

'What about Eric? What have you done with him?'

'The King has released him,' the guard grimaced. 'He is free and will not face the True Death.'

I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank the Gods.'

'Your Gods have nothing to do with it, unfortunately,' Pam murmured. 'Where's Bill- I mean, the King?'

'You are to go through the house and to leave immediately.'

'Hold up,' she said, her anger bubbling under her voice. 'What the hell is going to happen about my face? The King needs to get his shit together and sort out that Wicca bitch ... '

'Pamela,' I hissed. 'Another time. We will fix you. I promise.'

'It's not you I'm worried about. You keep your promises. Bill on the other hand – '

'Miss Swynford de Beaufort, you may wish to leave the premises before finishing that statement. Treason within the King's own premises is a crime, you know.'

Pam rolled her eyes and murmured something obscene under her breath as we ascended the stairs and back out into the night. The doors shut behind us and we were free at last, bathing in the glow of the moonlight instead of the fluorescent false light of the cells.

'Should we go find Eric?'

Pam grinned as though she knew something that I did not. 'I wouldn't, if I were you. I'd think you'd find him in a ... compromising position.'

I rolled my eyes and cast my eyes back to my wayward niece who was already brewing an activity in her mind. 'And what, may I ask, are you going to do with your newly-found freedom? Nice night in, perhaps?'

'I'd rather be ... Well, we _are_ dead, but deader.'

'You're not going to do something stupid, are you?'

Pam threw a look at me. 'Of course not. I'm setting some things right.'

She then flew into the air before I had a chance to ask her what she meant. I sighed in exasperation – it was Pam's temper that had got her into this decomposing mess in the first place. She was not going to learn a valuable lesson about vengeance and retaliation any time soon.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

I was running away.

I had decided that the moment I had left my father's toxic presence. Godric and I would run away in the dead of night and be free of everything and everyone. We did not need Rome or my family. We needed only each other, for the rest of our lifetimes. I was not going through with some marriage to please my family or settle my father's business agreements. I wanted Godric and only him.

When the sun set and I had eaten my fill of the food served for dinner, I made my excuses about heading to bed early with some malady or headache. My father seemed to buy into the excuse, bidding me a good night's rest, stating that tomorrow would be a busy day in inviting all of my relatives and family friends to my elaborate wedding. I nodded, bile rising in my throat and my cheek throbbing as it recalled his strike, and left the table, returning to my room. When I was certain that no servant would catch me, I packed a light bag with some clothes and trinkets that were precious to me. I waited until the fall of night when darkness claimed the outside of the villa and wrapped my cloak tight around me as I crept through the villa. All was silent with only my steady breath as the sound as I took one last look at the place that had been my home since my birth. Cassius and I had played by that fountain in the centre. Lucretia had taught me how to sing one of her favourite songs by that window. Memories floated around my mind, now tainted by the thought of my arranged marriage and my callous father.

'Goodbye,' I whispered to the empty and silent rooms before pulling my hood up to shadow my face and left my childhood home for the last time.

It took me a much quicker time than usual to reach our meadow as I knew the dangers should I be caught. I was eager to flee as soon as I saw Godric, as soon as our skin touched in an embrace. I could see him in the distance, waiting with his own set of belongings. He saw me coming and his lips broke out into a most beautiful smile which I could not help but send back to him. I ran to him then and he lifted me in the air, bringing me to the earth only for our lips to meet.

'My love,' he whispered against my lips when his own had left them. 'Do you have everything?'

I nodded earnestly. 'Godric, we must leave as soon as possible. My father – '

Godric kissed my forehead and stroked my hair softly in an effort to comfort and calm me. 'No need to fear him any more, my love.'

'He has arranged my marriage to another, Godric,' I whispered, the words paining me as much as I knew they would grieve him.

He was taken aback, his face awash with jealousy and shock. His eyes became steely rather than soft and deep, his jaw clenching in anger. 'You are mine, Aurora.'

'As you are mine,' I vowed.

Godric bowed his head resolutely. 'Then, we must get away immediately. Where to, my beloved? North? West?'

'I do not care,' I almost laughed, 'as long as we are together. We shall see the word, explore so much – '

My words died on the air as I heard voices from behind me. I turned and lowered my hood in order to see more clearly the glowing lights and shadows advancing towards. As I squinted, I could make out that the glowing lights were torches and the shadows were glinting, much like the silver of the armour of ...

'Soldiers!' Godric said urgently and took my hand. 'Aurora, run!'

Voices were raised as we set off for the sanctuary that the vast maze of trees could offer the two of us, running faster than we had ever done in both of our lives. If we could hide ourselves within, get as far into the woods as possible, we could escape them, make it out of the city before they could get close to us. My heart was pounding within my chest as I thought of the people advancing towards us. Had my father sent them? How had they known where we had gone? What would they do to Godric if they succeeded in catching us? I did not care about my own safety, but I knew that a fate far worse than a beating could await Godric.

'Aurora!' Godric yelled as we were only feet away from the trees. We were going to make it, we were going to be free.

We had not bargained on even more soldiers encircling us, trapping us. Godric and I stood still with the soldiers and their flaming torches, his arms around me, protecting me even now.

'My lady,' one of them said. 'You must come with us at once. We shall return you to your father. He will be most gracious to have you back.'

'No!' I cried out against them. 'No, I will not go back!'

'Listen to us, my lady. This slave has bewitched you with dark arts. He does not love you. What respectable lady would leave her home and her family for such a savage?'

'You know nothing!' Godric snarled.

Suddenly, arms were outstretched to seize us. Godric tried his best to protect me from their prying fingers, but we were vastly outnumbered and I was soon clutched by two soldiers who handled me with care, knowing of my respectable status, having no intention of hurting me. The same could not be said for my Godric, a slave, who was now being beaten by fists and clubs, knocked to the ground where I could only glimpse him.

'Godric, no! Get off him!'

'Aurora!' I could hear him cry out amidst the blows being delivered at the delight of the soldiers.

'Leave him alone! Please!' I screamed, fighting against the men who held me tight. 'Do not hurt him!'

'Miss, we will take you away from this. Your eyes should not bear witness to this deliverance of justice.'

The two soldiers holding me then made a move to drag me away from the scene but I struggled against them, managing to free myself by wriggling out of their grip. I ran towards Godric, my nails ready to scratch and claw at those who would dare harm him. I caught sight of my beloved, battered and bleeding on the ground, becoming weaker with every hard blow. I shrieked at the soldiers to release him, but I was ignored. They were not going to listen to me, a mere girl, when the violence was ready to be relished and enjoyed.

'Let him go! Stop! Let him go! Now!'

My shrieks and screams were only ceased when I was knocked back by a flying fist, aimed for Godric but misdirected towards me. I stumbled back towards the ground where my head collided with the stone ruins. It was then that the screams and the sounds of breaking bones ended as I fell into unconsciousness, my lips forming Godric's name for the last time as everything went black.


	33. Chapter 33

As both the whereabouts of my amnesiac brother and my vengeful niece were unknown, I decided to make myself scarce of the King's mansion. I could not leave the house fast enough, escorted by guards to the very edge of the property. I had wanted to speak to the King, to thank him for sparing Eric's life and to ask him why he had done so. From what I could gather, Bill was all but raring to go when it came to taking Eric to meet the True Death. What had changed his mind? What had caused him to renege on his vow to kill Eric? But it struck me whilst I was soaring through the air, heading back to Fangtasia. The answer was so obvious, an enigma that was solved with a blonde, perky, happy-to-help little half-fairy. Sookie. I made a mental note to see Sookie again before this whole ordeal ended. It was because of her that Eric was still here on this earth. What power did she have over vampires, aside from her dazzling personality and delectably smelling blood? The magic of the fae was indeed strange, but the magic that lay within humans was stranger still.

I landed in Fangtasia to find it deserted where normally crowds of vampire-loving idiots gathered just to catch a mere glimpse of the famous vampire bar. It was closed until Pam could find some way of repairing her face as it would be a cold day in hell before she would reveal to anyone else, be they vampire or human, her current physical state. The quiet was comforting after so many nights of the raucous noise of the Fangtasia revellers, but it was soon broken by footsteps near me, slight and quiet. I stiffened until I caught the smell of a human ... a human boy. I turned and saw him standing by the bar's entrance, looking at me with the same wary look that human upon human, century after century, had worn whenever their eyes fell upon me.

'Leo,' I greeted him with a small smile and saw that he relaxed somewhat before making my way over to him.

'Aurora, you're here.'

'What are you doing here? Don't you know we're closed until further notice?'

'I didn't want to come to the bar,' he said. 'I came to see you. It's been a while.'

'So it has. Leo, things are very complicated right now. A difficult ... situation has arisen with my people – '

'The vampires?' he asked, a tone of interest clearly in his voice. 'What's happening?'

I sighed a little and looked at him in those deep eyes, those very human eyes. It reminded me of his fragility, his plain humanity. He should be concentrating on colleges and careers, his own human life, not being fascinated by a two thousand year old vampire and her dangerous problems.

'Leo ... '

'I know what you're going to say. It's dangerous, I shouldn't be told stuff like this, curiosity killed the cat. But ... the thing is ... I couldn't help myself. I had to come see you again. I just find you so ... intriguing.'

'That's another word for it,' I grinned. 'Leo, you have to understand this. My world, what I am ... it may look intriguing and fascinating, but it's so much more than that. It's dangerous, it's scary and it gets people, humans, killed. You're putting your own life at risk.'

Leo's eyes dulled their sparkle only slightly. 'Is this the pep talk you give to everyone who tries to be your friend?'

'No, but it's perhaps what I should have done. Otherwise so many lives could have been saved.'

'Aurora, please. I just want to be your friend. You don't have to shut me out.'

'Yes, I do. Leo, you have a life. You have a family. You have so many years ahead of you. I'm only shutting you out to protect you, to preserve what you have and what you can have. Being friends with a vampire is dangerous.'

'Maybe I don't care about the danger,' he insisted. 'Maybe I just want to be your friend. Is that really just a shocking thing to want? And maybe you need a friend too.'

I stopped at this, my gaze firmly fixed on his eyes. He was just trying to be my friend. Was that really such a crime? But I thought of all those friends I had had, whose lives had been drastically changed, some even cut short, because of their association with me and with my kind. Did I really want that for Leo, a boy who had his whole life ahead of him?

'Please,' he said softly. 'Just ... don't push me away.'

I softened then, becoming more the human I was before as opposed to the vampire I was. I heaved a sigh and closed my eyes. 'I'm going to regret this. _You're_ going to regret this.'

'Regret is just a part of life. I regret the time I pushed over my mom's expensive glass vase and blamed it on the cat, but it doesn't rule me now.'

I smiled at his analogy and then turned my look to a mixture of softness and steel. 'But you have to promise me, right here, right now. When I say it is too dangerous, you listen to me and do not get involved. I have lived for two thousand years so I know what I'm talking about. Do you understand?'

Leo's eyes sparkled then with a glint of that treasured humanity. 'So what does this mean?'

'It means, Leo Bennett, that we are friends. What about your promise?'

'I promise,' he said excitedly. 'Anything remotely to your standard of danger and I'm not involved. Thank you, Aurora. Thank you for letting me in.'

It was strange then, that he had used that phrase. As the vampire, I was accustomed to receiving invitations into someone's home, into their very lives. Leo was now being invited into another place, into my deepest sanctum of precious friendships.

* * *

><p><span>Rome<span>

My head throbbed and ached with an agonising pain I had never felt before as my eyes slowly fluttered open. Colours and shapes were blurred and out of focus as I gradually blinked myself into consciousness. I was lying down on something soft and warm, soon realising that I was in my own bed. My brow furrowed as my hands felt around me, my fingertips wandering in order to make up for my blurred and dysfunctional sight. I was at home when I had last been ... My memories flooded back to me as though someone had opened the doors to a downpour of water. Godric, being savagely beaten by the soldiers whilst I screamed and fought my way to him. The throbbing of my head was exactly the point where my body had collided with the stone ruins of the place that Godric and I called our own.

'Godric?' I murmured softly, my voice hardly reaching above a gentle whisper.

'Hush now,' soothed a voice that was not my beloved's as a cold compress was softly dabbed on my forehead. 'You must rest.'

I focused now on all the sight I had available to me, blinking until my vision was back to normal. I was in my own room and my sister was sat next to me, a bowl of water next to her, an unreadable expression on her lovely face.

'Lucretia,' I whispered. 'What ... ?'

'It's all right now, sister. You're safe. You're home.' I then made to sit up in protest and she stopped me with her hands on my shoulders, pushing me back to my bed with some gentle force. 'No, no, Aurora. You must rest. You hit your head and you must rest. It is a good thing that you are awake too. You've been unconscious for almost two days.'

'Two days? I've been unconscious for two days?'

'Yes,' she murmured softly as though raising her voice any higher would cause my head more pain. 'The physicians told us to expect the worst when you were not responding to their treatment. The impact of your head on those stone ruins, it could have killed you. But you're a fighter, you have that fire in your blood, Aurora. I knew that you would wake.'

I rose a little to look at my sister. I ignored the pain in my head and the sick feeling in my stomach as I stared at her, my beautiful sister, my nurse and my carer.

'What happened, Lucretia?'

'I will tell you. But I must fetch Father first. He instructed me to inform him the second you awoke.'

She made to leave, but I hastily reached out and managed to clasp my hand around her arm to prevent her from leaving, from going to see him.

'Lucretia, no. You are not to leave this room until you tell me every detail about what happened. I have to know, sister.'

Lucretia made a little sigh of discomfort before resuming her seat and fiddling with a loose thread on the hem of her gown.

'I can only tell you what I know.'

'What you have been told,' I corrected her. 'Please, Lucretia, tell me everything.'

She took a deep breath before she began her story, the sadness already present in her eyes. 'One of the servants had discovered you were not in your bed. They then awoke the whole house, servants, guards and ... Father. They then found that Godric was nowhere to be found so Father sent out a search party for the two of you, to bring you home and to ... give Godric what he deserved.' I made to speak but she raised a hand so that she could continue. 'The servants talked then of how Godric had somehow bewitched you with dark magic and arts he had learned in his homeland and on his travels as a slave. Father was quite happy to agree with them and he instructed the soldiers to bring you home. He also said that they were to deal with the Gaul boy in any manner they saw fit. Although, when the whole household waited for news, Father decided to summon for Fabricius and I to come to the house to wait for news of your safe return. We left the children with their nursemaid and came as soon as we could. We arrived about an hour or so before they brought you in, one of the soldiers carrying your unmoving form in his arms. Aurora ... I was so afraid, we all thought you were dead. I thought you were dead. You could not be roused by medicine or herb. Father ordered the finest physicians that could come to be brought to the house in order to revive you, but there was no use. You were almost in the spell of a sleeping death.'

I slowly absorbed all of the information and noted the terror in my sister's eyes. Her fear had been real. She had thought that she had been robbed of the only sibling she had left.

'And ... then what?'

'Marcus Antonius wanted news of you, he had been told by Father that you had had an accident from which they were uncertain as to whether you would recover. He sat by your side for hours, never moving, never speaking. He wanted you to feel as though there was someone with you always.'

Despite the thankfulness and affection I had for my supposed betrothed for this stance of goodness, my mind was elsewhere as my lips formed the question that demanded an answer from my reluctant sister.

'Lucretia ... where is Godric?'

She was silent, her eyes cast downward. She did not want to look me in the eye.

'Lucretia, tell me. Where is Godric?' I said, my tone becoming stronger and firmer.

'They do not know what exactly occurred,' she muttered. 'The soldiers were ... punishing him for fleeing with you, but they stopped as soon as they saw you had been injured. Father is investigating which of them hurt you, they are sure to be reprimanded by the highest authority – '

'I do not care about what happened to me,' I growled. 'I do not care, Lucretia. I care about what happened to Godric.'

'I am getting to that part, rest assured, sister. The soldiers brought you home as their first priority and determined to return and bring Godric back to face legal punishment. Once they had delivered you home, they went to the ruins to retrieve Godric, but ... '

I was afraid of whatever answer she would give. My heart was almost in my throat, waiting for her to finish. I needed to know what had happened. I had to discover the fate that had befallen my Godric.

'What, Lucretia? What happened to him?'

Lucretia heaved a sigh before finishing her sentence with a heavy sadness befalling her eyes. 'But he was gone. His body ... he had disappeared. They searched for his body, but they could not find anything. Aurora, I am sorry, but he ... Godric is gone. He must have escaped somewhere, but his injuries ... they were so severe, he is sure to have ... '

'No,' I croaked out. 'No, he's not dead. Do not say those words. He is not dead.'

'Aurora, face the facts. No one could have survived such an assault. He must have escaped, but he would not have lasted long, not with what he had gone through.'

I was hearing her words, but her voice was not clear, the sound almost muted in my head. I sat up then and slowly, without even my brain communicating to move my limbs, moved out of bed. Lucretia did not even attempt to stop me, but she did not have to try for my legs seemed to give up on me and I fell to the floor, all the while murmuring the same words, chanting them to the universe and to the gods as though they would bring him back to me.

'Please ... he is not dead ... Godric is not dead ... '

My sister's arms wrapped around me in a soothing but restricting fashion and it was then that the tears fell and the screams that were my sobs came. It was though my heart had been torn from my body. The pain was unbearable and I believed that only death would end my suffering and reunite me with my beloved Godric. I could feel nothing but agonising pain. I had lost him. He was gone.

* * *

><p>'So have you met anyone famous?'<p>

'What do you mean?'

'You're two thousand years old. You've got to have met someone cool. Otherwise what is the point of immortality?'

I laughed at him and his human musings as we sat in the empty Fangtasia, having helped ourselves to a variety of drinks from behind the bar. I had shown Leo that even a vampire, who could not drink normal things, could still make a good cocktail as I made him several concoctions whilst I sipped my own Tru Blood. We had quizzed ourselves on a variety of subjects in order to ground our newfound friendship and this was just one of these questions that Leo had fired at me.

'It depends on what you mean by 'famous'. There can be quite a few ... '

Leo's face lit up like a child on Christmas Day as he heard this. 'Who have you met?'

I grinned then at his expression. 'Well, I was lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn and then again to Elizabeth I. I had a few drinks with Lord Byron once, but he was far too clingy for my tastes. And Will Shakespeare may or may not have used some of my words in his plays.'

Leo sat there, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. 'You ... met Shakespeare?'

I nodded, smiling. 'But it does not matter really how famous people become. It's the person you meet beforehand that has the most effect on you. I've met kings and peasants, priests and pariahs, but it does not matter to me – '

I was interrupted in my speech by the ringing of my phone. Upon seeing an unknown number, I answered it hesitantly.

'Hello?'

'Hey, Aurora?' said a perky human voice. 'It's Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse.'

I relaxed a little in both my stance and my voice. 'Why, hello, Sookie. How are things?'

'Things are ... well, until just a few moments ago, they were hunky dory. Eric's here and – '

'He's with you? Is he safe?'

'Uh-huh,' she said, a little too breathily. 'Yeah, he's all ... safe.' I grinned a little despite myself, but the grin soon vanished as I heard her worried tone in her next few words. 'Aurora, I'm calling with some pretty big stuff. You know the witch?'

'Marnie? The witch currently locked away in the King's basement?'

'Yeah, well, it turns out she wasn't so securely locked away as we thought. She's escaped. And that's not all.'

'Sookie, what is going on?'

'Well, basically, she's been possessed by this Spanish witch, Antonia de something or other. Anyways, she's got this thing where she makes all the vampires walk out into the sunlight and Bill's pretty sure she's planning to use this power she's got to finished what she started all those years ago.'

'Wait, are you talking about Antonia Gavilan de Logroño? The 1610 massacre in Spain?'

'Yeah, I think that's the one Bill was talking about. So tonight, we – the vampires, I mean, are being bound in silver in their coffins to stop them walking out. I was calling to make sure you got the message.'

'Loud and clear, Sookie,' I said, knowing that this was truly serious. 'Sookie, is Eric safe?'

'Yeah, he's safe. I've got silver bindings and all so we're going to stay down in the cubby he built for himself in my house and he should be fine. I've called Pam as well and she's gonna use Fangtasia's basement to stay safe. Have you got somewhere safe to go, Aurora?'

'I'll use Eric's house, my coffin is there and it will be easy to keep me out of the sunlight.'

'Good, that's good to hear. Well, call me when you can so that I can let Eric know you're safe. I've got to go now, I need to start putting this silver on him.'

'Thank you, Sookie. For everything. Just ... keep him and yourself safe.'

'I will,' she murmured and with a click, she was gone.

I reeled in the information and turned around to look at Leo who had been watching me during my conversation with Sookie with both intrigue and concern.

'Aurora, what's going on? It sounds pretty serious.'

'You're right, Leo,' I muttered to him, my eyes dark and my voice low. 'It is serious. So let me ask you a question.'

Leo stood from his bar stool then and walked towards me determinedly. 'Anything. Ask me anything.'

'How would you like to test our new friendship with a little favour? Preferably a favour to be used before dawn approaches.'


	34. Chapter 34

Every nerve in my body, every impulse in my brain was racked with the searing pain that each link of each and every single silver chain was imprinting upon me. I grimaced and hissed as I could smell and hear the sizzling and burning flesh as Leo carefully draped my body with silver chains, wrapping them first around me and then the makeshift bed I had fashioned quickly in the basement of Eric's mansion. My coffin's lid had been ripped open by one flick of my hand in order to grant the human boy easier access to place across me the searing instruments of pain that could save me from a much greater agony, an anguish that my beloved Godric had felt not so long ago. Soon enough, I was held down by enough chains to hold down some sort of wild animal, a tiger or some other ferocious beast. But I was a vampire and far stronger than any living animal that had ever walked on this earth. Would these mere chains be enough?

'More,' I said through gritted teeth.

'Aurora,' Leo sighed, pained himself as he stared down at my scorched skin. 'You must be in so much pain.'

'It's nothing I cannot handle. Are there any more chains to spare?'

'Yeah, a couple more, but I – '

I shot him a look, trying to remove all traces of pain from my eyes. 'Leo, I know what this spell will do. This is truly powerful and dangerous magic. My body will fight against anything it comes across to get to the sun. I need as much as we can spare to keep _me_ down and to keep _you_ safe.'

'Me?'

'I could ... I could easily hurt you if I break free. I could kill you if the spell commanded.'

'But you wouldn't ... It would be the spell, it wouldn't be you, Aurora.'

'It doesn't matter,' I snapped. 'It would still be your blood on my hands. Now ... more chains.'

Leo heaved a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a moment before reaching down to his feet and pulling up a much larger chain which he fastened to the surface underneath me. With a look of unreachable sadness in his eyes, he brought the heavy thing over me and it came into contact with my skin almost immediately, my flesh sticking to it instantly. Without restraint, I let out a sound of anguish that demonstrated that even though a vampire may live as long as I have, it made no differences when it came to our basic weaknesses, two of which I could come into contact with: silver and the sun's deadly rays.

'Do you feel secure?' he asked me in a soft voice.

I could do nothing but nod as I took a few minutes to combat the pain. This is nothing, I told myself. You've been through worse. By the end of this, you could be dust. Just think about that.

Leo then pulled up a chair next to me and reached out to take my hand, his eyes never leaving mine.

'When this ... spell begins, I'll start fighting against the chains. I could do or say anything to get you to release me but whatever happens, Leo, you must not listen to me. You stay safe. You stay as far away from me as you can, do you hear me?'

'Yes, my lady,' he said with a ghost of a grin on his youthful face.

I raised an eyebrow and smiled despite the situation. 'It's been a long while since someone has called me that.'

Leo's eyes sparkled and I fondly recalled that this was my treasured part of a human. The old generations were not wrong when they declared that eyes were the windows to the soul for they held so much life, so much promise.

'Now, if I break free and I ... '

'Attack me?'

I nodded. 'I want you to use whatever you can to ... stake me.'

Leo's face changed completely into an expression of astounded horror. '_Stake_ you? Aurora, what the hell are you talking about? I'm not going to stake you!'

'You should!' I barked. 'If your life is danger because of what I could do, you should defend yourself. And the sure way to end a vampire, even one as old and as strong as me, is eight inches of oak wood right between the ribs.'

Leo shook his head adamantly, his grip tightening around my hand. 'No, it's not going to come to that. I promise, you'll get through this. We both will.'

I knew that there was no use arguing with this stubborn human so I resorted to silence then, my vampire body clock reminding me that there were only a few hours to go until the sun rose and the spell would begin.

'You've never told me, you know.'

'Told you what, Leo?' I murmured.

'How you became a vampire. There has to be some sort of story. You must be full of stories, two thousand years' worth of seeing and feeling and ... living.'

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to be surrounded by the memories of so long ago. I was turned into a vampire over two millennia ago, several hundred lifetimes, but I could recall it within a few seconds. I turned my head back to face Leo whose face held the eagerness of a child ready to be enraptured by a tale of old.

'The night I became a vampire was my wedding night. A night that had began with so much joy and promise ended in a bloodbath that would stain the high born society of Rome, the name of my prestigious family for many years to follow. The night I died and became a creature of the night.'

* * *

><p>The beautiful girl in the wedding gown could not possibly be my reflection. She was too beautiful, too perfect. Now there she stood, perfectly frozen in the mirror in all her ethereal glory. Most of her hair tumbled down in gentle and faultless waves, fixed with dainty flowers woven into the strands of golden brown locks, whilst the rest was fastened up, adorned with a crown-like accessory adorned with golden leaves. Her veil was a bright colour, as was the custom, the honoured tradition for a noble bride. Her wedding gown was a simple white tunic secure with a rope, the thing she absently minded stroked with a feeling of nervousness. This was the rope that her fiancé, later to be her husband, would untie, to show that she was his.<p>

I blinked once and was forced back into reality, my own reality where I was not the poor girl trapped in the mirror. I longed to be her, to be free of what would follow me today. For the last week or so, since I had recovered from my attempt at escape, I had become a shadow of my former self. I was assigned to my fate – married off to a man who I did not know by my uncaring and unyielding father. I was numb and hollow inside.

My attendants had finished their work in completing my transformation into the ideal bride and stepped aside as though to allow me to bask in the glory of my beauty. If this had been different circumstances, I would have graciously thanked them for all their efforts and complimented them on their skilled craftsmanship that had turned me into some sort of goddess. But things were just the same and a very different me simply stared into the mirror, cold to the touch, hollow inside.

'Sweet sister mine,' Lucretia announced her presence as she glided into the room. The attendants bowed their heads and took her arrival as their cue to leave. I couldn't help but notice their expressions as they left the room in order to be given another task to make this the wedding of the year. They pitied me, it was clear in their eyes. They knew that this was not my choice. No part of this celebration was my choice.

Lucretia walked round to face me so that she was between me and the mirror, forcing me to make eye contact with my sister. I loved her with all my heart but part of me, the smallest part of my heart, blamed her for going along with this, for her continued enthusiasm at this marriage when my true beloved was dead.

'You look beautiful,' she mused, fixing a few stray strands of hair that had managed to escape being confined into the tight mass of curls. 'Do you know who you look like? Even more than you already do.'

'Who?' I murmured softly.

'Mother. She would have been so proud of you, Aurora. I know that she is watching over us right now with that beautiful smile I wish you could have known.'

Lucretia's hand stroked down my arm until her soft fingertips brushed against the bracelet that had once belonged to Cassius. She brought my arm to look at it in closer detail.

'You should remove this, Aurora, just for today. It does not bode well to enter a marriage, a union of happiness, with such a reminder of grief.'

I retracted myself from her grip and my gaze turned icy cold. 'No. It was Cassius'. This belonged to him. I shall wear this until I go to my grave. Although, that grave would be a welcome reprieve from this hell.'

'Do not utter such things. Father has set up this marriage in order to give you a life. You can be free, Aurora.'

'As long as I play the dutiful wife, just as I have always played the dutiful daughter and sister.'

Lucretia looked away then, despairingly. 'Aurora, what hope do we have if we do not marry well? Our world was not built upon the idea of marrying for love.'

'Because it was built on the concept of selling your daughters off to soldiers and men of high regard like prized cattle whilst the true love is ... murdered in cold blood.'

'Godric is gone, Aurora,' Lucretia said firmly. 'He is gone. You cannot bring him back. This flame you carry for him in your heart will extinguish once you have discovered how wonderful Marcus Aurelius will be in time.'

I laughed with a sound that was not like anything that had ever passed my lips. 'Then, you truly know nothing of love.'

'I love my children. I love the father of my children. That is love. It is not the true love you might have believed you had, but it is love nonetheless. When you bear Marcus Aurelius children, you will feel such love in your heart that you will feel ashamed that you ever doubted it.'

'If that is truly the life to which I am destined,' I whispered, 'then I am dead already. I would rather be in heaven with my Godric and buried together in a grave than warm in Marcus Aurelius' bed.'

Lucretia had had enough of me then and walked off towards the door. 'Do this for me, Aurora. I want you to be happy. Marcus Aurelius can make you happy. He can give you the life you truly deserve, a life away from Father. He's a good man.'

'I do not doubt that for one moment, but I do not love him. How many times do I have to say those words before someone listens to me?'

'Words can be regretted, little sister. Like a seed that becomes the rose, you can grow to love him. And when he cherishes you and makes you the queen of his idolatry, you will think again on those words of yours.'

'My lady Aurora,' a serving girl timidly said as she approached the doorway, 'it is time.'

Lucretia nodded as the girl hurried off, having delivered her message. 'Father will be along shortly to escort you to – '

'No.'

'Aurora,' she sighed.

'Tell Father that if this is to be my wedding day, I am to walk down the aisle to meet Marcus Aurelius. I will not be _escorted_ like a prisoner on his way to the gallows, led to await his death.'

Lucretia said no more but swiftly left in order to take her place. I thought again about my words as the terms 'prisoner' and 'gallows' rung hauntingly in my head. It was an apt metaphor for what today would become.

* * *

><p>'So your dad was just going to marry you off? Sell you to this general guy? What the hell ... '<p>

'It was a different time, Leo. Different millennia even. When I was human, at my age, most of my friends were already the epitome of the good wife and mother. I was lagging behind in Roman views.'

Leo snorted. 'You are – I mean, you were a kid. You had your whole life ahead of you and these men wanted to take it from you and hand you a baby and a copy of 'Good Housekeeping'?'

I smirked at his attempt of a joke despite the circumstances of my being chained up in silver, awaiting the magic spell cast by a vampire-hating coven of witches. 'No such thing, young man. That was the way. In many societies today, that is still the way. Young girls are forced into these unions with men with whom they have barely had a conversation, condemned to a constant cycle of – '

And then all hell broke loose.

The force was truly indescribable. No words could actually paint any sort of picture of what force overcame my senses and my body in that very moment. It was as though some dark force was pulling me upwards like a magnet but the chains restrained me from doing so. I screamed and shook, trying to break free of the chains, desperately trying to reach the sun I knew was just outside of the doors of Fangtasia.

'Aurora,' Leo murmured hesitantly.

'Release me!' I said, my voice distorted by my newly-extended fangs, my words harsh and like nothing I had ever heard. 'Release me from these chains! Now!'

Leo looked beyond terrified as he watched me writhe and scream against my confinement. 'Aurora, you know I can't. It's the spell talking, don't give in – '

'What part of 'release me' is so hard for you to understand?' I roared at him, now the monster I had kept hidden from the world – and myself – for so long. 'Release me, boy, or I will rip your head from your neck and drink from you like a fountain!'

'You have to fight this, Aurora,' he said, his voice shaky now. 'Fight it. Fight against the spell. This isn't you.'

'The sun!' I screeched amidst my screams of anguish. 'The sun! Let me go!'

'No!' he yelled back, coming closer to me. He then laid his hands on my shoulders and held me down with every ounce of his human strength.

'The sun! The sun! Release me and let me see it! Let me die like him!'

'Like him? Who died, Aurora? Who died going into the sun? Talk to me, Aurora, keep talking!'

Leo's strategy of keeping me distracted when I was talking in my spell-induced haze seemed to work for a little as my words became intermingled with what the spell commanded and my pained memories.

'The sun! It took him! My Godric! The sun released him! I have to meet it! I have to see it! The sun! Please release me from these chains! I can't bear it!'

'Yes, you can,' Leo yelled. 'You can do this, Aurora! I believe in you! You can do this! Fight it!'

Instead of screaming for the sun that would reduce me to a pile of ashes, I then found myself crying out for my beloved. I needed him then more than I ever had.

'Godric!'

* * *

><p>Only a few hours had passed and it seemed to me that my whole life had changed. The entire marriage ceremony itself was a blur and details of what actually happened barely held fast in my brain. I repeated words spoken at me as I apparently vowed to be faithful and loving to the man stood beside me, already the compliant girl as was expected. One thing I did recall, however, was the expression on Marcus Aurelius' face, the face of the man who was now my husband. He could not take his eyes off me, as though he was still coming to terms with the fact that I was his bride. His smile was glowing and no trace of trickery or falseness of any kind was evident in his eyes. When we kissed as man and wife, I could almost feel happiness seep through his lips at his joy. He was truly a good man, even if the circumstances were not in his favour.<p>

The celebrations were to be the finest Rome had ever seen, my father had made sure. No other wedding, no other festivity in Roman history past or future, would compete with the one that began a mere second after we were married. The festivities were held at my father's house as his way of celebrating the prosperous marriage of his youngest child and of showing off to the wealthy of Rome who now gathered here. The feast was a rich opulent affair and my eyes drank in so much colour that at times, I had to close them for fear of dizziness. After a few hours, my head was throbbing and I just wanted this day to end.

'Are you well, dearest one?' Marcus asked softly. 'You seem ... somewhat dazed.'

I did my best to attempt a smile for his benefit. 'I am fine. It is just ... I wish my brother was here. This sort of celebration would have greatly amused him. He enjoyed any chance for a festivity.'

'Well then, I wish I could have known him. From what your father tells me, he was a great warrior and would have made a prosperous lord.'

'If my father says so, then it must be the truth.'

Marcus grinned and whispered, 'But I am sure that you knew him to be even greater. Twins have that special connection that not even a parent can understand. I should know, I had a twin also.'

I suddenly softened a little then as I heard those words. 'You are a twin, my lord?'

'I was, my lady wife. His name was Lucian. He died when we were twelve. The pox took him from me.'

'I am sorry for your loss,' I whispered. 'When my brother was taken from me, it was as though my world had ended, like a tie that held me to this earth had been severed.'

'I felt the same. The pain remains forever, but it does get better, my love. Trust in me.'

I nodded then and thought again about what my sister had said before I had become his wife. Maybe I could learn to love him, although admittedly not as much and as deeply as I had loved Godric. Maybe he would be the man who would protect me and love me for the rest of my life, even if his feelings were more one-sided.

'This feast is starting to make my head ache,' Marcus said after a little while just watching the people dance and be merry in front of where we had been placed. 'So much noise, and colour. Is it tiring you, dear one?'

'Yes, a little. It's been a long day.'

'So indeed it has. Let us make our excuses and leave, shall we?'

I returned his smile, not having to forge it as much this time. We rose then and, with him taking my hand, we made our way quickly through the throngs of people, the majority of whom I had never seen before in my life. We bypassed my family members on the way; my father was too busy enjoying himself with wine and questionable women to see me sneaking out. My sister, on the other hand, noticed me and sent me an encouraging smile before I lost her amongst the crowds. I did not know it then, but that was the last time I would lay eyes on her – human eyes, I should say.

Marcus Aurelius took me to his villa, only a short walk away from my family home. It was a beautiful place that I would be expected to rule over and command as the woman of the house, but I cast aside those thoughts as we entered the silent and deserted place, or at least that is what we thought. Soldiers were standing guard inside the building, awaiting their general's return, steely gazes even as they beheld their commander and his new bride.

'I am sorry, dear one,' he said softly. 'It is an occupational hazard, I am afraid. You will soon be accustomed to soldiers at the door frequently. You will have to deal with them too.'

'Am I going to war with you?' I chuckled.

'If you wish,' he answered before a steeliness overcame him as he addressed the ten soldiers present. 'You men. Outside. Now. We are not to be disturbed.'

The soldiers nodded in synchronisation and filed outside the villa. When we were alone, Marcus led me towards a room at the back of the villa, a room that merely contained a large bed and several hundreds of candles, illuminating the darkness in such a way that I was brought back to a memory I had cherished – the night Godric and I first had made love. Marcus Aurelius would soon find out that I was not the pure and virginal girl my father had painted me to be.

'Our first night together as husband and wife, joined souls in the eyes of the gods, should be one to be remembered. I want this to be special for you.'

'Thank you,' I murmured softly as he took my hands in his and gazed deep into my eyes sincerely.

'I know that you do not love me as I love you,' he said in a tender voice. 'I know that. But in time, you will grow fond of me and maybe as the years pass and we learn more of each other, you could grow to love me. Time is a powerful thing, my dear one.'

I closed my eyes and kissed his hands then. 'Maybe it could be so.'

He smiled then and leant forward to kiss me, but, clearly disregarding the earlier command from the general, one of the guards burst in, looking as though he had seen something truly monstrous from the way he was shaking and stumbling over his words.

'My lord? My lord?'

'What is it?' Marcus' commanding voice was back. 'I thought I had given you orders not – '

'You must come, my lord. Please ... there's something out there. My lord, it may threaten the safety of yourself and your bride.'

Marcus' hands tightened slightly around mine as the soldier departed. 'I will be back soon, my love. And then we shall ... continue this discussion. Stay inside, for your own safety, until I know what is going on.'

He planted a kiss quickly but keenly on my forehead and, drawing the sword that had been the staple of his outfit as a groom, he left me alone in the room where I was surrounded by shadows and the flickering lights of the candles. It was then that I heard voices, first spoken, then shouts ... and then came the screams.

Ignoring the instruction from my new husband, I raced outside where I found the most shocking sight that my human eyes would ever fall upon. The soldiers were strewn across the villa, in various sickening poses, covered in their own blood. Some still had their eyes open, the look of death only just painted upon their faces. Blood covered the floor and the walls, smeared with hands, splattered across the white walls, staining its purity. I stood there, transfixed by the sight, too frightened to move a single muscle. My mind told me several different things – run away, scream, go to help them. I shut out those voices in my head as my eyes went over every detail of this scene again and again until I felt as though my eyes would bleed like the poor men before me. What had happened here? What kind of monster would do something like this?'

'Aurora ... '

I snapped out of my terrified haze and followed the faint murmur of my name to my new husband who lay with his men, covered in blood just like them. I raced towards him and after a few seconds, I deduced that his injuries were severe but not life-threatening. He was, however, seconds away from unconsciousness, keeping himself awake only to look at me intensely and warn me.

'What happened? Marcus, tell me what happened here!'

'There's ... no time,' he choked. 'You ... have to ... run.'

'Run? From what? Marcus, who or what did this to you? Was it an animal? Tell me!'

He shook his head fiercely. 'It was neither. Neither a man ... nor an animal ... It was a ... _monster_.'

It was at that moment then that he lost consciousness and became a limp thing in my arms. I knew then that whatever had killed these able-bodied and trained soldiers would surely murder me, a defenceless and weak girl, twice as easily. I ran from these bodies, listening to my husband, but not before grabbing one of the disregarded swords. I decided that the best option was to barricade myself in the room as this monster could still be lurking outside. As I entered the room, all the candles all suddenly were extinguished as though some force had rushed into the room and the wind from this had taken out their flames. I held the sword out in front, my mind desperately running through all that Cassius and Godric had taught me about fighting in case the worst should happen.

'Who are you? Show yourself!' I commanded fearlessly.

I then turned to look into the moonlight as my only source of light and saw a shadowy figure emerge as if from the darkness. This figure then became illuminated, bathed in the silvery glow of the moonlight, outlining every single beautiful feature for me to behold. I could not believe my eyes. Surely they deceived me. My hands loosened their grip of the sword and it clanged to the floor as I beheld him.

It was Godric. My Godric. He was alive ... and he was covered in fresh blood.


End file.
